lifornia 

onal 

ity 


/ 


The  Chautauqua  LiteOTiJ  and  Scientific  Circle, 


STUDIES    yOR   1891-93. 


Leading  Facts  of  American  History.     Montgomery,        -        -  -  $i  oo 

Social  Institutions  of  the  United  States.    Bryce,         ...  i  oo 

Initial  Studies  in  American  Letters.    Beers,         ....  j  oo 

Story  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.    Thorpe,      -  -        60 

Classic  German  Course  in  English.    Wilkinson,       -        -        -  -    i  oo 

Two  Old  Faiths.    Mitchell  and  Muir, 40 


TWO  OLD  FAITHS 


ESSAYS  ON  THE  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  HINDUS 
AND  THE  MOHAMMEDANS 


BY 

J.  MURRAY  MITCHELL,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

AND 

SIR  WILLIAM  MUIR,  LL.D.,  D.C.L. 


NEW    YORK 

CHAUTAUQUA   PRESS 

C.  L.  S.  C.  Department,  15O  Fifth  Avenue 

1891 


The  required  books  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  are  recommended  by  a  Council 
of  Six.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that  recommendation  does  not 
involve  an  approval  by  the  Council,  or  by  any  member  of  it,  of  every 
principle  or  doctrine  contained  in  the  book  recommended. 


These  essays  have  been  selected  from  the  admirable  series  of  Present 
Day  Tracts,  published  by  the  Religious  Tract  Society,  London,  and  are 
reprinted  with  permission. 


CONTENTS. 


THE    HINDU    RELIGION.  PAGE 

OUTLINE  OP  THE  ESSAY 7 

INTRODUCTION 9 

THE  VEDAS 12 

PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM 31 

RECONSTRUCTION — MODERN  HINDUISM 43 

CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY 58 

HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  . .  .68 


THE    RISE    AND    DECLINE    OF    ISLAM. 

OUTLINE  OF  THE  ESSAY 83 

INTRODUCTION 85 

THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OP  ISLAM 87 

WHY  THE  SPREAD  OP  ISLAM  WAS  STAYED 125 

Low  POSITION  OP  ISLAM  IN  THE  SCALE  OP  CIVILIZATION 129 


THE  HINDU  RELIGION, 


OUTLINE    OF    THE    ESSAY. 


THE  place  of  Hinduism — which  is  professed  by 
about  a  hundred  and  ninety  millions  in  India — among 
the  religions  of  the  world,  and  its  great  antiquity, 
are  pointed  out. 

The  comparative  simplicity  of  the  system  contained 
in  the  Vedas,  the  oldest  sacred  books  of  the  Hindus, 
its  almost  entire  freedom  from  the  use  of  images,  its 
gradual  deterioration  in  the  later  hymns,  its  gradual 
multiplication  of  gods,  the  advance  of  sacerdotalism, 
and  the  increasing  complexity  of  its  religious  rites 
are  set  forth. 

The  philosophical  speculation  that  was  carried  on, 
the  different  philosophical  schools,  the  Buddhist  re- 
action, its  conflict  with  Brahmanism,  its  final  defeat, 
and  its  influence  on  the  victorious  system  are  dis- 
cussed. 

The  religious  reconstruction  represented  by  the 
Puranas,  their  theological  character,  the  modern 


8  OUT-LINE  OF  THE  ESSAY. 

ritual,  the    introduction   and   rise  of   caste,  and  the 
treatment  of  women  are  then  considered. 

A  contrast  is  drawn  between  the  leading  character- 
istics of  Hinduism  and  those  of  Christianity,  and  the 
effect  of  Christian  ideas  on  modern  Hinduism  is  ex- 
hibited. The  history  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj  under 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen  is  given  at  some  length. 


THE   HINDU    RELIGION. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  system  of  religious  belief  which  is  generally 

called  .Hinduism   is,   on    many  accounts,  Hinduism  de- 
serving   of 
eminently  deserving  of  study.     If  we  de-  study. 

sire  to  trace  the  history  of  the  ancient  religions  of  the 
widely  extended  Aryan  or  Indo-European  race,  to 
which  we  ourselves  belong,  we  shall  find  in  the  ear- 
lier writings  of  the  Hindus  an  exhibition  of  it  decid- 
edly more  archaic  even  than  that  which  is  presented 
in  the  Homeric  poems.  Then,  the  growth — the  his- 
torical development — of  Hinduism  is  not  less  worthy 
of  attention  than  its  earlier  phases.  It  has  endured 
for  upward  of  three  thousand  years,  no 

Its  antiquity. 

doubt  undergoing  very  important  changes, 
yet  in  many  things  retaining  its  original  spirit.     The 
progress  of  the  system  has  not  been  lawless ;  and  it  is 
exceedingly  instructive  to  note  the  development,  and, 
if  possible,  explain  it. 


10  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

We  are,  then,  to  endeavor  to  study  Hinduism 
chronologically.  Unless  he  does  so  almost  every 
man  who  tries  to  comprehend  it  is,  at  first,  over- 
whelmed with  a  feeling  of  utter  confusion  and  be- 
wilderment. Hinduism  spreads  out  before  him  as  a 
vast  river,  or  even  what  seems  at  first 

"  a  dark 

Illimitable  ocean,  without  bound, 
Without  dimension,  where  length,  breadth,  and  height, 
And  time,  and  place  are  lost." 

But  matters  begin  to  clear  up  when  he  begins  at  the 
The  discussion  beginning,  and  notes  how  one  thing  suc- 


.  ceeded  another.  It  may  not  be  possible 
as  yet  to  trace  all  the  windings  of  the  stream  or  to 
show  at  what  precise  points  in  its  long  course  it  was 
joined  by  such  and  such  a  tributary  ;  yet  much  is 
known  regarding  the  mighty  river  which  every  intel- 
ligent man  will  find  it  profitable  to  note  and  under- 
stand. 

The  Christian  ought  not  to  rest  satisfied  with  the 
•me  Christian's  vague  general  idea  that  Hinduism  is  a 

duty  in  relation 

to  the  subject,  form  of  heathenism  with  which  he  has 
nothing  to  do,  save  to  help  in  destroying  it.  Let  him 
try  to  realize  the  ideas  of  the  Hindu  regarding  God, 
and  the  soul,  and  sin,  and  salvation,  and  heaven,  and 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

hell,  and  the  many  sore  trials  of  this  mortal  life.  He 
will  then  certainly  have  a  much  more  vivid  percep- 
tion of  the  divine  origin  and  transcendent  importance 
of  his  own  religion.  Farther,  he  will  then  extend  a 
helping  hand  to  his  Eastern  brother  with  far  more  of 
sensibility  and  tenderness ;  and  in  proportion  to  the 
measure  of  his  loving  sympathy  will  doubtless  be  the 
measure  of  his  success.  A  yearning  heart  will  accom- 
plish more  than  the  most  cogent  argument. 

In  this  Tract  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  laying 
down  of  great   leading  facts  and  princi-  The 
pies;  but   these   will    be   dwelt  upon    at  theTract- 
sufficient  length  to  give  the  reader,  we  trust,  an  ac- 
curate conception  of  the  general  character  and  history 
of  Hinduism.     We   shall   also   briefly   contrast   the 
system  with  Christianity. 

The  history  of  Hinduism  may  be  divided  into  three 
great  periods,  each  embracing,  in  round  numbers, 
about  a  thousand  years. 


12  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 


I. 

THE  VBDAS. 

REGARDING  the  earliest  form  of  Hinduism  we  must 
The  most  an-  draw  our  conceptions  from  the  Veda,  or, 

cient   writings 

of  India.  to  speak  more  accurately,  the  lour  Vedas. 
The  most  important  of  these  is  the  Rig  Veda ;  and 
internal  evidence  proves  it  to  be  the  most  ancient. 
It  contains  above  a  thousand  hymns ;  the  earliest  of 
which  may  date  from  about  the  year  1500  B.  C.  The 
Hindus,  or,  as  they  call  themselves,  the  Aryas,  had 
by  that  time  entered  India,  and  were  dwelling  in  the 
north-western  portion,  the  Panjab.  The  hymns,  we 
may  say,  are  racy  of  the  soil.  There  is  no  reference 
to  the  life  led  by  the  people  before  they  crossed  the 
Himalaya  Mountains  or  entered  by  some  of  the 
passes  of  Afghanistan. 

It  would  be  very  interesting  if  we  could  discover 
the  pre-Vedic  form  of  the  religion.  Inferentially 
this  may,  to  some  extent,  be  done  by  comparing  the 
teachings  of  the  Vedas  with  those  contained  in  the 
books  of  other  branches  of  the  great  Aryan  family — 


THE  VEDAS.  13 

such  as  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  and,  above  all,  the 
Iranians  (ancient  Persians). 

The  ancient  Hindus  were  a  highly  gifted,  energetic 
race  ;  civilized  to  a  considerable  extent ;  not  nomadic  ; 
chiefly  shepherds  and  herdsmen,  but  also  acquainted 
with  agriculture.  Commerce  was  not  unknown  ;  the 
river  Indus  formed  a  highway  to  the  Indian  Ocean, 
and  at  least  the  Phenicians  availed  themselves  of  it 
from  perhaps  the  seventeenth  century  B.  C.,  or  even 
earlier. 

As  soon  as  we  begin  to  study  the  hymns  of  the 
Veda  we  are  struck  by  their  strongly  re-  The  hymns  are 

strongly  reliR- 

ligious  character.     Tacitly  assuming  that  lous. 
the  book  contains  the  whole  of  the  early  literature  of 
India,  many  writers  have  expressed   themselves    in 
strong  terms  regarding  the  primitive  Hindus  as  relig- 
ious above  all  other  races.      But  as  we  The  arease 
read  on  we  become  convinced  that  these  lection> 
poems  are  a  selection,  rather  than  a  collection,  of  the 
literature ;  and  the  conviction  grows  that  the  selec- 
tion has  been  made  by  priestly  hands   for  priestly 
purposes.     An   acute  critic   has  affirmed  Pre^mlnently 
that  the  Vedic  poems  are  "  pre-eminently  »««dotai. 
sacerdotal,  and  in  no  sense  popular."  '     We  can  thus 
» Earth. 


14  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

explain  a  pervading  characteristic  of  the  book  which 
has  taken  most  readers  by  surprise.  There  is  a  want 
of  simplicity  in  the  Yeda.  It  is  often  most  elaborate, 
artificial,  overrefined — one  might  even  say,  affected. 
How  could  these  be  the  thoughts,  or  those  the  ex- 
pressions, of  the  imperfectly  civilized  shepherds  of 
the  Pan  jab  ?  But  if  it  be  only  a  hymn-book,  with  its 
materials  arranged  for  liturgical  purposes,  the  difficulty 
vanishes.1  We  shall  accordingly  take  it  for  granted 
present  the  re-  ^ia^  ^ne  ^e(^a  presents  only  the  religious 
ofSSS  thought  of  the  ancient  Hindus— and  not 
Hindus.  tlie  wnoje  Of  t]ie  reiigiou8  thought,  but 

only  that  of  a  very  influential  portion  of  the  race. 
With  all  the  qualifications  now  stated,  the  Veda  must 
retain  a  position  of  high  importance  for  all  who  study 
Indian  thought  and  life.  The  religious  stamp  which 
the  compilers  of  the  Yeda  impressed  so  widely  and 
so  deeply  has  not  been  obliterated  in  the  course  of 
thirty  centuries. 
Their  religion  The  prevailing  aspect  of  the  religion 

is  Nature-wor- 
ship, presented   m   the  V edic   hymns   may  be 

broadly  designated  as  Nature-worship. 

1  Bergaigne,  in  bis  able  treatise,  La  Religion  Vediquv,  insists  earnestly 
on  what  he  calls  the  "liturgical  contamination  of  the  myths."  See 
vol.  iii,  p.  320. 


THE  VEDAS.  15 

All  physical  phenomena  in  India  are  invested  with 
a  grandeur  which  they  do  riot  possess  in  Physical   phe- 

n  o  m  e  n  a  In 

northern  or  even  southern  Europe.  Sun-  India, 
light,  moonlight,  starlight,  the  clouds  purpled  with  the 
beam  of  morning  or  naming  in  the  west  like  fiery 
chariots  of  heaven  ;  to  behold  these  things  in  their 
full  magnificence  one  ought  to  see  them  in  the  East. 
Even  so  the  sterner  phenomena  of  nature — whirlwind 
and  tempest,  lightning  and  thunder,  flood  and  storm- 
wave,  plague,  pestilence,  and  famine;  all  of  these 
oftentimes  assume  in  the  East  a  character  of  awful 
majesty  before  which  man  cowers  in  help-  Tlielr  eflect  on 
lessness  and  despair.  The  conceptions  and  thereli^lon- 
feelings  hence  arising  have  from  the  beginning  pow- 
erfully affected  the  religion  of  the  Hindus.  Every- 
where we  can  trace  the  impress  of  the  grander  mani- 
festations of  nature — -the  impress  of  their  beneficence, 
their  beauty,  their  might,  their  mystery,  or  their  ter- 
ribleness. 

The  Sanskrit   word  for  god  is  deva,  which  means 
bright,  shining.     Of  physical  phenomena  The  deities  are 

"the     bright 

it  was  especially  those  connected  with  ones,"  accord- 
light  that  enkindled  feelings  of  reverence,  guage  of  the 
The  black  thunder-cloud  that  enshrouded  India. 

nature,  in  which  the  demon  had  bound  the  life-giving 
2 


16  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

waters,  passed  away ;  for  the  glittering  thunder-bolt 
was  launched,  and  the  streams  rushed  down,  exulting 
in  their  freedom  ;  and  then  the  heaven  shone  out 
again,  pure  and  peaceful  as  before.  But  such  a  won- 
der as  the  dawn — with  far-streaming  radiance,  return- 
ing from  the  land  of  mystery,  fresh  in  eternal  youth, 
and  scattering  the  terrors  of  the  night  before  her — 
who  could  sufficiently  admire  ?  And  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  in  the  Hindu  mind  the  interval  between 
admiration  and  adoration  is  exceedingly  small.  Yet, 
while  it  is  the  dawn  which  has  evoked  the  truest  poetry, 
she  lias  not  retained  the  highest  place  in  worship. 

No  divinity  has  fuller  worship  paid  him  than  Agni, 
Firemuchwor-  *ne  ^"'e  (Iffnis).  More  hymns  are  dedi- 
shiped.  cated  to  him  than  to  any  other  being. 

Astonishment  at  the  properties  of  fire  ;  a  sense  of  his 
condescension  in  that  he,  a  mighty  god,  resides  in 
their  dwellings;  his  importance  as  the  messenger  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth,  bearing  the  offerings  aloft; 
his  kindness  at  night  in  repelling  the  darkness  and  the 
demons  which  it  hides — all  these  things  raised  Agni 
to  an  exalted  place.  He  is  fed  with  pure  clarified 
butter,  and  so  rises  heavenward  in  his  brightness. 
The  physical  conception  of  fire,  however,  adheres  to 
him,  and  he  never  quite  ceases  to  be  the  earthly 


THE  VEDAS.  17 

flame  ;  yet  mystical  conceptions  thickly  gather  round 
this  root-idea ;  he  is  tire  pervading  all  nature ;  and 
he  often  becomes  supreme,  a  god  of  gods. 

All  this  seems  natural  enough  ;  but  one  is  hardly 
prepared  for  the  high  exaltation  to  which  Sotna  hl  hl 
Soma  is  raised.  Soma  is  properly  the  exalted- 
juice  of  a  milky  plant  (asclepias  acirfa,  or  sarco- 
stemma  viminale\  which,  when  fermented,  is  intoxi- 
cating. The  simple-minded  Aryas  were  both  aston- 
ished and  delighted  at  its  effects ;  they  liked  it 
themselves  ;  and  they  knew  nothing  more  precious 
to  present  to  their  gods.  Accordingly,  all  of  these 
rejoice  in  it.  Indra  in  particular  quaffs  it  "  like  a 
thirsty  stag ; "  and  under  its  exhilarating  effects  he 
strides  victoriously  to  battle.  Soma  itself  becomes  a 
god,  and  a  very  mighty  one  ;  he  is  even  the  creator 
and  father  of  the  gods ; '  the  king  of  gods  soma  becomes 

,     ,,  .       ,  .     ,         ,     a  very  mighty 

and  men  ;  all  creatures  are  in  his  hand.  god. 
It  is  surely  extraordinary  that  the  Aryas  could  apply 
such  hyperbolical  laudations  to  the  liquor  which  they 
had  made  to  trickle  into  the  vat,  and  which  they  knew 
to  be  the  juice  of  a  plant  they  had  cut  down  on  the 
mountains  and  pounded  in  a  mortar  ;  and  that  intoxi- 
cation should  be  confounded  with  inspiration.  Yet 

1  R.  V.,  ix,  42,  4.  *  R.  V.,  ix,  97,  24. 


18  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

of  such  aberrations  we  know  the  human  mind  is  per- 
fectly capable. 

We  have  first  referred  to  Agni  and  Soma,  as  being 
the  only  divinities  of  highest  rank  which  still  retain 
connection  their  Physical  character.  The  worship 
creek, andBol  Pa^  to  tnem  was  °f  great  antiquity  ;  for 
man  systems.  ^  jg  a|go  pre3crii)e(i  m  the  Persian  Avesta, 

and  must  have  been  common  to  the  Indo-Iranian 
branch  of  the  Aryan  race  before  the  Hindus  entered 
India.  But  we  can  inferentially  go  still  further  back 
and  speak  of  a  deity  common  to  the  Greeks,  Ro- 
varuna,  the  mans?  Persians,  and  Hindus.  This  deity  is 
god  of  leaven.  yarunaj  tilc  most  retnarkable  personality 
in  the  Yeda.  The  name,  which  is  etymologically 
connected  with  Ovpavo^,  signifies  "  the  encom passer," 
and  is  applied  to  heaven — especially  the  all-encompass- 
ing, extreme  vault  of  hearven — not  the  nearer  sky, 
which  is  the  region  of  cloud  and  storm.  It  is  in  dc- 
Tne  subiimit  scribing  Yaruna  that  the  Veda  rises  to  the 
description^  greatest  sublimity  which  it  ever  reaches.  A 
mysterious  presence,  a  mysterious  power, 
a  mysterious  knowledge  amounting  almost  to  omnis- 
cience, are  ascribed  to  Varuna.  The  winkings  of 
men's  eyes  are  numbered  by  him.  He  upholds  order, 
both  physical  and  moral,  throughout  the  universe. 


THE  VEDAS.  19 

The  winds  are  his  breath,  the  sun  his  eye,  the  sky  his 
garment.  He  rewards  the  good  and  punishes  the 
wicked.  Yet  to  the  truly  penitent  he  is  merciful. 
It  is  absolutely  confounding  to  pass  from  Contrast  w(th 
a  hymn  that  celebrates  the  serene  majesty  |Je  JJjSatI™J 
and  awful  purity  of  Varuna  to  one  filled  Soma" 
with  measureless  laudations  of  Soma  or  Agni.  Could 
conceptions  of  divinity  so  incongruous  co-exist  ?  That 
they  could  not  spring  up  in  the  same 'mind,  or  even 
in  the  same  age,  is  abundantly  manifest.  And,  as  we 
have  mentioned,  the  loftier  conceptions  of  Theiottiercon. 
divinity  are  unquestionably  the  earlier.  It  JJJfty^eUrl 
is  vain  to  speak,  as  certain  writers  do,  of  her" 
religion  gradually  refining  itself,  as  a  muddy  stream 
can  run  itself  pure  ;  Hinduism  resembles  the  Ganges, 
which,  when  it  breaks  forth  from  its  mountain  cradle 
at  Hardwar,  is  comparatively  pellucid,  but,  as  it  rolls 
on,  becomes  more  and  more  muddy,  discolored,  and 
urfclean.1 

Various  scholars  affirm  that  Varuna,  in  more  an- 

1  The  religion  of  the  Indo-European  race,  while  still  united,  "  rec- 
ognized a  supreme  God  ;  an  organizing  God ;  almighty,  omniscient, 
moral.  .  .  .  This  conception  was  a  heritage  of  the  past.  .  .  .  The 
supreme  God  was  origincilly  the  God  of  heaven."  So  Darmesteter, 
Contemporary  Review,  October,  1879.  Rotli  had  previously  written 
with  much  learning  and  acuteness  to  the  same  effect. 


-20  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

cieut,  pre-Vedic  times,  held  a  position  still  higher 
than  the  very  high  one  which  he  still  retains.  This  is 
probable  ;  indeed,  it  is  certain  that,  before  later  divin- 
ities had  intruded,  he  held  a  place  of  unrivaled  maj- 
esty. But,  in  the  Yedas,  Indra  is  a  more 
conspicuous  figure.  He  corresponds  to 
the  Jupiter  Pluvins  of  the  Romans.  In  north-western 
India,  after  the  burning  heat,  the  animal  return  of  the 
HIS  achieve  rams  was  hailed  with  unspeakable  joy  ;  it 
ments.  waslike  life  succeeding  death.  The  clouds 

that  floated  up  from  the  ocean  were  at  first  thin  and 
light ;  ah  !  a  hostile  demon  was  in  them,  carrying  off 
the  healing  waters  and  not  permitting  them  to  fall; 
but  the  thunder-bolt  of  Indra  flashed  ;  the  demon  was 
driven  away  howling,  and  the  emancipated  streams 
refreshed  the  thirsty  earth.  Varnna  was  not  indeed 
dethroned,  but  he  was  obscured,  by  the  achievements 
of  the  warlike  Indra ;  and  the  snpersensuous,  moral 
conceptions  that  were  connected  with  the  former 
gradually  faded  from  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
Varuna  erelong  became  quite  a  subordinate  figure 
in  the  Pantheon. 
Number  and  The  deities  are  generally  said  in  the 

relations  of  de-    ^ 

ities uncertain.    Veda  to  be  '•  thrice  eleven      in  number. 
We  also  hear  of  three  thousand  three  hundred  and 


THE  VEDAS.  21 

thirty -nine.  There  is  no  system,  no  fixed  order  in  the 
hierarchy  ;  a  deity  who  in  one  hymn  is  quite  subor- 
dinate becomes  in  another  supreme  ;  almost  every 
god  becomes  supreme  in  turn  ;  in  one  hymn  he  is  the 
son  of  some  deity  and  in  another  that  deity's  father, 
and  so  (if  logic  ruled)  his  own  grandfather.  Every 
poet  exalts  his  favorite  god,  till  the  mind  becomes  ut- 
terly bewildered  in  tracing  the  relationships. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  Agni,  Varuna,  and 
Indra,  as  \vell  as  Soma.  Next  to  these  in  importance 
may  come  the  deities  of  light,  namely,  the  sun,  the 
dawn,  and  the  two  Asvina  or  beams  that  accompany 
the  dawn.  The  winds  come  next.  The  earth  is  a 
goddess.  The  waters  are  goddesses.  It  is  remark- 
able that  the  stars  are  very  little  mentioned  ;  and  the 
moon  holds  no  distinguished  place. 

In  the  religion  of  the  Rig  Yeda  we  hardly  see 
fetich  ism — if  by  fetichism  we  mean  the  Hardly  any 

fetichismintlie 

worship  of  small  physical  objects,  such  as  mg  veda. 
stones,  shells,  plants,  etc.,  which  are  believed  to  be 
charged  (so  to  speak)  with  divinity,  though  this  ap- 
pears in  the  fourth  Yeda— the  Atharva.  But  even 
in  the  Rig  Yeda  almost  any  object  that  is  grand, 
beneficent,  or  terrible  may  be  adored  ;  and  implements 
associated  with  worship  are  themselves  worshiped. 


22  THE  HIND  U  RELIGION. 

Thus,  the  war-chariot,  the  plow,  the  furrow,  etc.,  are 
prayed  to. 

A  pantheistic  conception  of  nature  was  also  present 
Early  tendency  in  the  Indian  mind  from  very  early  times, 

toward  pan-  i,  .       i        i 

theism.  although  its  development  was  later.     Even 

in  the  earliest  hymns  any  portion  of  nature  with 
which  man  is  brought  into  close  relation  may  be 
adored.1 

We  must  on  no  account  overlook  the  reverence 
Reverence  of  P3^  to  ^ie  dead.  The  pitris  (patres)  or 
fathers  are  frequently  referred  to  in  the 
Veda.  They  are  clearly  distinguished  from  the  devas 
or  gods.  In  later  writings  they  are  also  distinguished 
from  men,  as  having  been  created  separately  from 
them  ;  but  this  idea  does  not  appear  in  the  Veda. 
Yama,  the  first  mortal,  traveled  the  road  by  which 
none  returns,  and  now  drinks  the  Soma  in  the  inner- 
most of  heaven,  surrounded  by  the  other  fathers. 
These  come  also,  along  with  the  gods,  to  the  banquets 
prepared  for  them  on  earth,  and,  sitting  on  the  sacred 
grass,  rejoice  in  the  exhilarating  draught. 
Thesubjectsof  The  hymns  of  the  Rig  Yeda  celebrate 

the   hymns   of 

the  Rig  veda.  the  power,  exploits,  or  generosity  of  the 
deity  invoked,  and  sometimes  his  personal  beauty. 

1  Mnir's  Sanskrit  Texts,  v,  412. 


THE  VEDAS.  23 

The  praises  lavished  on  the  god  not  only  secured 
his  favor  but  increased  his  power  to  help  the  wor- 
shiper. 

There  is  one  prayer  (so  called)  which  is  esteemed 
pre-eminently    holy;    generally    called —  The  holiest 

,.  ..,.",.."  !    prayer. 

from  the  meter  in  which  it  is  composed 
— the  Gayatri.1     It  may  be  rendered  thus : 

"Let  us  meditate  on  that  excellent  glory  of  the  Divine  Son  (or 
Vivitier);  may  he  enlighten  our  understandings !  " 

It  has  always  been  frequently  repeated  in  important 
rites. 

So  far  we  have  referred  almost  exclusively  to  the 
Rig  Veda.     The  next  in  importance  is  the 

Atharva  Veda. 

Atharva,  sometimes  termed  the  Brahma 
Veda ;  which  we  may  render  the  Veda  of  incanta- 
tions. It  contains  six  hundred  and  sev-  Interiormor. 
enty  hymns.  Of  these  a  few  are  equal  to  ^^l?^ 
those  in  the  Rig  Veda ;  but,  as  a  whole,  the  Veda> 
Atharva  is  far  inferior  to  the  other  in  a  moral  and 
spiritual  point  of  view.  It  abounds  in  imprecations, 
charms  for  the  destruction  of  enemies,  and  so  forth. 
Talismans,  plants,  or  gems  are  invoked,  as  possessed 
of  irresistible  might  to  kill  or  heal.  The  deities  are 
often  different  from  those  of  the  Rig  Voda.  The  Atharva 
1  R.  V.,  iii,  62,  10. 


24  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

manifests  a  great  dread  of  malignant  beings,  whose 
EX  lanation  of  wra^1  ^  deprecates.  We  have  thus  sini- 
deterioration.  ^Q  demon-worship.  How  is  this  great 
falling-off  to  be  explained  ?  In  one  of  t\vo  ways. 
Either  a  considerable  time  intervened  between  the 
composition  of  the  two  books,  during  which  the 
original  faith  had  rapidly  degenerated,  probably 
through  contact  with  aboriginal  races  who  worshiped 
dark  and  sanguinary  deities ;  or  else  there  had  ex- 
isted from  the  beginning  two  forms  of  the  religion — 
the  higher  of  which  is  embodied  in  the  hymns  of  the 
Kig  Veda,  and  the  lower  in  the  Atharva.  We  believe 
the  latter  explanation  to  be  correct,  although  doubtless 
the  superstitions  of  the  aborigines  must  all  along  have 
exerted  an  influence  on  the  faith  of  the  invaders. 
The  offerings  presented  to  the  gods  consisted 
chiefly  of  clarified  butter,  curdled  milk, 

The   offerings. 

rice-cakes,  and  fermented  feoma  jnice, 
which  was  generally  mixed  with  water  or  milk.  All 
was  thrown  into  the  fire,  which  bore  them  or  their 
essences  to  the  gods.  The  Soma  was  also  sprinkled 
on  the  sacred  grass,  which  was  strewn  on  the  floor, 
and  on  which  the  gods  and  fathers  were  invited  to 
come  and  seat  themselves  that  they  might  enjoy  the 
cheering  beverage.  The  remainder  was  drunk  by  the 


THE  VEDAS.  25 

officiating  priests.     The  offerings  were  understood  to 
nourish  and  gratify  the  gods  as  corporeal  beings. 

Animal  victims  are  also  offered  up.  We  hear  of 
sheep,  goats,  bulls,  cows,  and  buffaloes  Anlmal  Tlo_ 
being  sacrificed,  and  sometimes  in  large  tims< 
numbers.  But  the  great  offering  was  the  Asvamedha, 
or  sacrifice  of  the  horse.  The  body  of  the  horse  was 
hacked  to  pieces ;  the  fragments  were  dressed — part 
was  boiled,  part  roasted ;  some  of  the  flesh  was  then 
eaten  by  the  persons  present,  and  the  rest  was  offered 
to  the  gods.  Tremendous  was  the  potency — at  least 
as  stated  in  later  times — of  a  hundred  such  sacri- 
fices ;  it  rendered  the  offerer  equal  or  superior  to  the 
gods ;  even  the  mighty  Indra  trembled  for  his 
sovereignty  and  strove  to  hinder  the  consummation 
of  the  awful  rite. 

Human    sacrifice    was    not   unknown,  Human  ^^ 
though  there  are  very  few  allusions  to  it  flce< 
iu  the  earlier  hymns. 

Even  from  the  first,  however,  the  rite  of  sacrifice 
occupies  a  very  high  place,  and  allusions  Sacrlflce 
to  it  are  exceedingly  frequent.     The  ob-   JJJJ"5iBpoi? 
servances   connected  with  it   are    said  to  tance- 
be  the   "  first   religions  rites."      Sacrifice   was   early 
believed   to   be   expiatory ;    it  removed   sin.     It  was 


26  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

substitutionary ;  the  victim  stood  in  place  of  the 
offerer.  All  order  in  the  universe  depends  upon  it ; 
it  is  "the  nave  of  the  world-wheel."  Sometimes 
Vishnu  is  said  to  be  the  sacrifice ;  sometimes  even 
the  Supreme  Being  himself  is  so.  Elaborated  ideas 
and  a  complex  ritual,  which  we  could  have  expected 
to  grow  up  only  in  the  course  of  ages,  appear  from 
very  early  times.  We  seem  compelled  to  draw  the 
inference  that  sacrifice  formed  an  essential  and  very 
important  part  of  the  pre-Vedic  faith.1 

In  the  Veda  worship  is  a  kind  of  barter.  In 
exchange  for  praises  and  offerings  the  deity  is  asked 
to  bestow  favors.  Temporal  blessings  are  implored, 
such  as  food,  wealth,  life,  children,  cows,  horses,  suc- 
cess in  battle,  the  destruction  of  enemies,  and  so  forth. 
Not  much  is  said  regarding  sin  and  the  need  of  for- 
giveness. A  distinguished  scholar1  has  said  that 
"  the  religious  notion  of  sin  is  wanting  altogether ; " 
but  this  affirmation  is  decidedly  too  sweeping. 
Noimage-wor-  ^he  worship  exemplified  in  the  Veda  is 
not  image-worship.  Images  of  the  fire,  or 
the  winds,  or  the  waters  could  hardly  be  required, 

1  The  rites,  says  Haug,  "  must  have  existed  from  times  immemorial." 
— Aitareya  Brdhmana,  pp.  7,  9. 

2  Weber,  History  of  Indian  Literature,  p.  38. 


THE  VEDAS,  27 

and  while  the  original  nature-worship  lasted,  idols 
must  have  been  nearly  unknown.  Yet  the  descrip- 
tion of  various  deities  is  so  precise  and  full  that  it 
seems  to  be  probably  drawn  from  visible  No  ubllcwor 
representations  of  them.  "Worship  was  shlp' 
personal  and  domestic,  not  in  any  way  public.  Indeed, 
two  men  praying  at  the  same  time  had  to  pray  quite 
apart,  so  that  neither  might  disturb  the  other.  Each 
dealt  with  heaven,  so  to  speak,  solely  on  his  own  behalf. 
"We  hear  of  no  places  set  apart  as  tem- 

.  No  temples. 

pies  in  V  edic  times. 

A  Yeda  consists  of  two  parts  called  Mantra  or 
Sanhtia,)  and  Brahmcma.  The  first  is  composed  of 
hymns.  The  second  is  a  statement  of  The  treatlses 
ritual,  and  is  generally  in  prose.  The  ex-  onntual- 
isting  Brahmanas  are  several  centuries  later  than  the 
great  body  of  the  hymns,  and  were  probably  com- 
posed when  the  Hindus  had  crossed  the  Indus,  and 
were  advancing  along  the  Gangetic  valley.  The 
oldest  may  be  about  the  date  of  800  or  TOO  B.  C. 

The  Brahmanas  are  very  poor,  both  in  thought  and 
expression.  They  have  hardly  their  match  in  any 
literature  for  "  pedantry  and  downright  absurdity."1 
Poetical  feeling  and  even  religious  feeling  seem 

1  Max  Mtiller,  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,  p.  389. 


28  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

gone ;  all  is  dead  and  dry  as  dust.  By  this  time  the  San- 
skrit language  had  ceased  to  be  generally  understood. 
The  original  texts  could  hardly  receive  accessions ;  the 
most  learned  man  could  do  little  more  than  interpret,  or 
perhaps  misinterpret,  them.  The  worshiper  looked  on  ; 
he  worshiped  now  by  proxy.  Thus  the  priest  had  risen 
greatly  in  importance.  He  alone  knew  the  sacred 
Growth  of  verses  an<l  *ne  sacred  rites.  An  error  in 
priestly  power.  tjie  pronunciatiOn  of  the  mystic  text  might 
bring  destruction  on  the  worshiper ;  what  could  he  do 
but  lean  upon  the  priest  ?  The  latter  could  say  the 
prayers  if  he  could  not  pray.  All  this  worked  power- 
fully for  the  elevation  of  the  Brahmans,  the  "men  of 
prayer ; "  they  steadily  grew  into  a  class,  a  caste ;  and 
into  this  no  one  could  enter  who  was  not  of  priestly 
schools  for  the  descent.  Schools  were  now  found  neces- 

Soks'/riS  sarv for  the  study of  the  sacred  books>  rites> 

and  traditions.  an(j  traditions.  The  importance  which 
these  attach  to  theology — doctrine — is  very  small ;  the 
externals  of  religion  are  all  in  all.  The  rites,  in  fact, 
now  threw  the  very  gods  into  the  shade ;  every  thing 
depended  on  their  due  performance.  And  thus 
the  Hindu  ritual  gradually  grew  up  into  a  stupendous 
system,  the  most  elaborate,  complex,  and  burdensome 
which  the  earth  has  seen. 


THE  VEDAS.  29 

It  is  time,  however,  to  give  a  brief  estimate  of  the 
moral  character  of  the  Veda.  The  first  Moral  charac. 
tiling  that  strikes  us  is  its  inconsistency.  teroftneVeda- 
Some  hymns — especially  those  addressed  to  Varuna 
— rise  as  high  as  Gentile  conceptions  regarding  deity 
ever  rose;  others — even  in  the  Rig  Yeda — sink  miser- 
ably low  ;  and  in  the  Atharva  we  find,  "  even  in  the 
lowest  depth,  a  lower  still." 

The  character  of  Indra — who  has  displaced  or 
overshadowed  Yaruna1 — has  no  high  at-  Indra  super. 
tributes.  He  is  "voracious;"  his  "in-  sedesVaruna- 
ebriety  is  most  intense ;  "  he  "  dances  with  delight  in 
battle."  His  worshipers  supply  him  abundantly  with 
the  drink  he  loves ;  and  he  supports  them  against 
their  foes,  ninety  and  more  of  whose  cities  he  has 
destroyed.  We  do  not  know  that  these  foes,  the 
Dasyus,  were  morally  worse  than  the  intrusive 
Aryas,  but  the  feelings  of  the  latter  toward  the 
former  were  of  unexampled  ferocity.  Here  is  one 
out  of  multitudes  similar  : 


"  Hurl  thy  hottest  thunder-bolt  upon  them  !  Uproot  them  I  Cleave 
them  asunder!  0,  Indra,  overpower,  subdue,  slay  the  demon  I  Pluck 
him  up  I  Cut  him  through  the  middle  1  Crush  his  head  t  " 

Indra,  if  provided  with  Soma,  is  always  indulgent 
1  "  The  haughty  Indra  takes  precedence  of  all  gods."     R.  V.,  1,  55. 


SO  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

to  his  votaries;  he  supports  them  per  fas  et  nefas. 
Deterioration  ^arunaj  °n  the  other  hand,  is  grave,  just, 
begins  early.  an(j  ^Q  wjcke(j  men  severe.1  The  super- 
session of  Yaruna  by  Indra,  then,  is  easily  understood. 
We  see  the  principle  on  which  it  rests  stated  in  the 
Old  Testament.  "Ye  cannot  serve  the  Lord,". -aid 
Joshua  to  the  elders  of  Israel ;  "  for  he  is  a  holy 
God."  Even  so  Jeremiah  points  sorrowfully  to  the 
fact  that  the  pagan  nations  clung  to  their  false  gods, 
while  Israel  was  faithless  to  the  true.  As  St.  Paul 
expresses  it,  "they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in 
their  knowledge."  Unless  this  principle  is  fully 
taken  into  account  we  cannot  understand  the  histor- 
ical development  of  Hinduism. 

The  Yeda  frequently  ascribes  to  the  gods,  to  use 
varuna  the  *ne  language  of  Max  M tiller,  "  sentiments 
J£LsSVinltf  and  passions  unworthy  of  deity."  In 
evatedandattri-  truth,  except  in  the  case  of  Yaruna, 
there  is  not  one  divinity  that  is  possessed 
of  pure  and  elevated  attributes. 

1  "These  two  personages  [Indra  and  Varuna]  sum  up  the  two  con- 
ceptions of  divinity,  between  which  the  religious  consciousness  of  the 
Vedic  Aryans  seems  to  oscillate." — Bergaigne,  La  Religion  Vedique, 
vol.  iii,  p.  149. 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  31 


II. 

PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM. 
v 

DURING  the  Yedic  period — certainly  toward  its^ 
conclusion — a  tendency  to  speculation  had  speculation 
begun  to  appear.  Probably  it  had  all  t^ins. 
along  existed  in  the  Hindu  mind,  but  had  remained 
latent  during  the  stirring  period  when  the  people 
were  engaged  in  incessant  wars.  Climate,  also,  must 
have  affected  the  temperament  of  the  race ;  and,  as 
the  Hindus  steadily  pressed  down  the  valley  of  the 
Ganges  into  warmer  regions,  their  love  of  repose 
and  contemplative  quietism  would  continually  deepen. 
And  when  the  B  rah  mans,  became  a  fully  developed 
hierarchy,  lavishly  endowed,  with  no  employment 
except  the  performance  of  religions  ceremonies,  their 
minds  could  avoid  stagnation  only  by  having  recourse 
to  speculative  thought.  Again,  asceticism  Kige  of  &scet^ 
has  a  deep  root  in  human  nature ;  earnest  lclsm' 
souls,  conscious  of  their  own  weakness,  will  fly  from 
the  temptations  of  the  world.  Various  causes  thus 

led  numbers  of  men  to  seek  a  life  of  seclusion ;  they 
3 


82  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

dwelt  chiefly  in  forests,  and  there  they  revolved  the 
everlasting  problems  of  existence,  creation,  the  soul, 
and  God.  The  lively  Greeks,  for  whom,  with  all 
their  high  intellectual  endowments,  a  happy  sensuous 
existence  was  nearly  all  in  all,  were  amazed  at  the 
numbers  in  northern  India  who  appeared  weary  of 
J;he  world  and  indifferent  to  life  itself.  By  and  for 
these  recluses  were  gradually  composed  the  Aranyakas, 
or  forest  treatises ;  and  out  of  these  grew  a  series  of 
more  regular  works,  called  Upanishads.1  At 

Upauisnads. 

least  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  are 
known  to  exist.  They  have  been  called  "guesses  at 
truth ;"  they  are  more  so  than  formal  solutions  of  great 
questions.  Many  of  them  are  unintelligible  rhapso- 
dies ;  others  rise  almost  to  sublimity.  They  frequently 
contradict  each  other ;  the  same  writer  sometimes 
contradicts  himself.  One  prevailing  characteristic  is 
all-important ;  their  doctrine  is  pantheism.  The  pan- 
They  are  an-  theism  is  sometimes  not  so  much  a  coldly 

reasoned  system  as  an  aspiration,  a  yearn- 
ing, a  deep-felt  need  of  something  better  than  the  mob 
of  gods  who  came  in  the  train  of  Indra,  and  the  darker 
deities  who  were  still  crowding  in.  Even  in  spite  of 

1  The  meaning  of  the.  term  is  not  quite  certain.    Sessions,  or  Instruc- 
tions, may  perhaps  be  the  rendering.     So  Monier  Williams. 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  33 

the  counteracting  power  of  the  Gospel  mysticism  has 
run  easily  into  pantheism  in  Europe,  and  orthodox 
Christians  sometimes  slide  unconsciously  into  it,  or 
at  least  into  its  language.1  But,  as  has  been  already 
noted,  a  strain  of  pantheism  existed  in  the  Hindu 
mind  from  early  times. 

Accordingly,  these  hermit  sages,  these  mystic 
dreamers,  soon  came  to  identify  the  human  soul  with 
God.  And  the  chief  end  of  man  was  to  seek  that 
the  stream  derived  from  God  should  return  to  its 
source,  and,  ceasing  to  wander  through  the  wilderness 
of  this  world,  should  find  repose  in  the  bosom  of  the 
illimitable  deep,  the  One,  the  All.  The  Brahmans 
attached  the  Upanishads  to  the  Yeda  proper,  and 
they  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  its  most  sacred  part. 
In  this  way  the  influence  these  treatises  have  exer- 
cised has  been  immense  ;  more  than  any  other  portion 
of  the  earlier  Hindu  writings  they  have  molded  the 
thoughts  of  succeeding  generations.  Philosophy  had 
thus  begun. 

The  speculations  of  which  we  see  the  commence- 

1  For  example,  Wordsworth  : 

"  Thou,  Thou  alone 

Art  everlasting,  and  the  blessed  Spirits 
Which  Thou  includest,  as  the  sea  her  waves." 

— Excursion,  book  iv. 


34  THE  HIXDU  RELIGION. 


meut  and  progress  in  the  Upanishads  were  finally  de- 
six  hiioso  tic  vel°Ped  and  classified  in  a  series  of  writings 
called  the  six  Sastras  or  dartsanas.  These 
constitute  the  regular  official  philosophy  of  India. 
They  are  without  much  difficulty  reducible  to  three- 
leading  schools  of  thought — the  Nyaya,  the  Sankhya, 
and  the  Vedanta. 

Roundly,  and  speaking  generally,  we  may  charac- 
terize these  systems  as  theistic,  atheistic,  and  panthe- 
istic respectively. 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  earlier  form 
of  the  Nyaya  was  theistic  or  not.  The 

The  Nyaya. 

later  lonn  is  so,  but  it  says  nothing  of 
the  moral  attributes  of  God,  nor  of  his  government. 
The  chief  end  of  man,  according  to  the  Nyaya,  is 
deliverance  from  pain ;  and  this  is  to  be  attained  by 
cessation  from  all  action,  whether  good  or  bad. 

The    Sankhya   declares  matter  to  be  self-existent 

and   eternal.     Soul   is  distinct  from  mat- 

The  Sankhya. 

ter,  and  also  eternal.  When  it  attains 
true  knowledge  it  is  liberated  from  matter  and  from 
pain.  The  Sankhya  holds  the  existence  of  God  to  be 
without  proof. 

But  the  leading  philosophy  of  India  is  unquestion- 
ably the  Vedanta.  The  name  means  "  the  end  or 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  35 

scope   of  the  Veda ; "   and  if  the  Upanishads  were 
the  Yeda,  instead  of  treatises  tacked  on  to 

The    Vedanta. 

it,  the  name  would  be  correct ;    for  the 
Vedanta,  like  the  Upanishads,  inculcates  pantheism. 

The  form  which  this  philosophy  ultimately  assumed 
is  well  represented  in  the  treatise  called  the  Vedanta 
Sara,  or  essence  of  the  Vedanta.  A  few  extracts  will 
suffice  to  exhibit  its  character.  "  The  unity  of  the 
soul  and  God — this  is  the  scope  of  all  Vedanta  trea- 
tises." We  have  frequent  references  made  to  the 
"  great  saying,"  Tat  twam — that  is,  That  art  thou,  or 
Thou  art  God ;  and  Akani  Brahma,  that  is,  I  am 
God.  Again  it  is  said,  "  The  whole  universe  is  God." 
God  is  "  existence  (or  more  exactly  an  existent  thing1), 
knowledge,  and  joy."  Knowledge,  not  a  knower ;  joy, 
not  one  who  rejoices. 

Every  thing    else   has    only  a  seeming   existence, 

which  is  in  consequence  of  ignorance  (or  it  teaches  ab- 
solute    ideal- 
illusion).     Ignorance  makes  the  soul  think  ism. 

itself  different  "from  God ;  and  it  also  "  projects  "  the 
appearance  of  an  external  world. 

"  He  who  knows  God  becomes  God."  "  When  He, 
the  first  and  last,  is  discerned,  one's  own  acts  are  an- 
nihilated." 

1  Or,  the  thing  that  really  is — the  ovnjs  dv. 


86  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

Meditation,  without  distinction  of  subject  and  ob- 
ject, is  the  highest  form  of  thought.  It  is  a  high 
attainment  to  say,  "  I  am  God ; "  but  the  consumma- 
tion is  when  thought  exists  without  an  object. 

There  are  four  states  of  the  soul — waking,  dream- 
ing, dreamless  sleep,  and  the  "  fourth  state,"  or  pure 
intelligence.  The  working-man  is  in  dense  igno- 
rance ;  in  sleep  he  is  freed  from  part  of  this  ignorance  ; 
in  dreamless  sleep  he  is  freed  from  still  more;  but 
the  consummation  is  when  he  attains  something  be- 
yond this,  which  it  seems  cannot  be  explained,  and 
is  therefore  called  the  fourth  state. 

The  name,  which  in  later  writings  is  most  fre- 
Doctrtneor  q«ently  given  to  the  "one  without  a 
-the self."  second,"  '  is  Atman,  which  properly  means 
self.  Much  is  said  of  the  way  in  which  the  self  in 
each  man  is  to  recover,  or  discover,  its  unity  with  the 
supreme  or  real  self.  For  as  the  one  sun  shining  in 
the  heavens  is  reflected,  often  in  distorted  images,  in 
multitudes  of  vessels  filled  with  water,  so  the  one  self 
is  present  in  all  human  minds.'  There  is  not — per- 
haps there  could  not  be — consistency  in  the  state- 


*  This  illustration  is  in  the  mouth  of  every  Hindu  disputant  at  the 
present  day. 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  37 

inents  of  the  relation  of  the  seeming  to  the  real.  In 
most  of  the  older  books  a  practical  or  con-  inco,,sistent 
ventional  existence  is  admitted  of  the  self  statemente- 
in  each  man,  but  not  a  real  existence.  But  when  the 
conception  is  fully  formulated  the  finite  world  is  not 
admitted  to  exist  save  as  a  mere  illusion.  All  phe- 
nomena are  a  play — a  play  without  plot  or  purpose, 
which  the  absolute  plays  with  itself.1  This  is  surely 
transcendent  transcendentalism.  One  regrets  that 
speculation  did  not  take  one  step  more,  and  declare 
that  the  illusion  was*itself  illusory.  Then  we  should 
have  gone  round  the  circle,  and  returned  to  sensus 
communis.  We  must  be  pardoned  if  we  seem  to 
speak  disrespectfully  of  such  fantastic  speculations ; 
we  desire  rather  to  speak  regretfully  of  the  many 
generations  of  men  which  successively  occupied  them- 
selves with  such  unprofitable  dreams ;  for  this  kind 
of  thought  is  traceable  even  from  Yedic  days.  It  is 
more  fully  developed  in  the  TJpanishads.  In  them 
occurs  the  classical  sentence  so  frequently  quoted  in 
later  literature,  which  declares  that  the  absolute  being 
is  the  "  one  [thing]  without  a  second." a 

The    book   which   perhaps   above   all    others   has 
molded  the  mind  of  India  in  more  recent  days  is 
1  Barlli,  p.  75.  a  Ekamadvitiyam. 


35  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

the  Bhagavad  Gita,  or  Song  of  the  Holy  One.     It 
is  written  in  stately  and  harmonious  verse, 
and  has  achieved  the  same  task  for  In- 
dian  philosophy  as   Lucretius   did   for  ancient  Epi- 
cureanism.1    It  is  eclectic,  and  succeeds,  in  a  sort  of 
way,  in  forcing  the  leading  systems  of  Indian  thought 
into  seeming  harmony. 

Some  have  thought  they  could  discern  in  these  dar- 
ing speculations  indications  of  souls  groping  after 
God,  and  saddened  because  of  the  difficulty  of  find- 
ing him.  Were  it  so,  all  our  sympathies  would  at 
once  be  called  forth.  But  no  ;  we  see  in  these  writ- 
mteiiectuai  in»s  *"ar  more  °*  intellectual  pride  than  of 
pride.  spiritual  sadness.  Those  ancient  dream- 

ers never  learned  their  own  ignorance.  They  scarcely 
recognized  the  limitations  of  the  human  mind.  And 
when  reason  could  take  them  no  farther  they 
supplemented  it  by  dreams  and  ecstasy  until,  in  the 
Yoga  philosophy,  they  rushed  into  systematized  mys- 
ticisms and  magic  far  more  extravagant  than  the  wild- 
est theurgy  of  the  degraded  Neoplatonisin  of  the 
Roman  Empire. 

1  Volui  tibi  suaviloquenti 
Carmine  Pierio  rationem  exponere  nostram 
Et  quasi  Musaeo  dulci  contingere  melle. 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  39 

A  learned  writer  thus  expresses  himself  : 

"  The  only  one  of  tlie  six  schools  that  seem  to  recognize  the  doc- 
trine of  divine  providence  is  the  Yoga.  It  thus  seems  that  the  con- 
sistent followers  of  these  systems  can  have,  in  their  perfected  state, 
no  religion,  no  action,  and  no  moral  character."1 

And  now  to  take  a  brief  review  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject.    The  Hindu  sages  were  men  of  acute  Indian  philoso- 
phy a  sad  fail- 
arid  patient  thought ;  but  their  attempt  to   ure. 

solve  the  problem  of  the  divine  and  human  natures, 
of  human  destiny  and  duty,  has  ended  in  total  failure. 
Each  system  baseless,  and  all  mutually  conflicting ; 
systems  cold  and  cheerless,  that  frown  on  love  and 
virtuous  exertion,  and  speak  of  annihilation  or  its 
equivalent,  absorption,  as  our  highest  hope :  such  is 
the  poor  result  of  infinite  speculation.  "  The  world 
by  wisdom  knew  not  God."  O,  that  India  would 
learn  the  much- needed  lesson  of  humility  which  the 
experience  of  ages  ought  to  teach  her ! 

While    speculation    was  thus    busy  Sacerdotalism 
was  also  continually  extending  its  influence. 
The  Brahman,  the  man  of  prayer,  had  made 
himself  indispensable  in  all  sacred  rites.     He  alone — 
as  we  have  seen — knew  the  holy  text ;  he  alone  could 
rightly  pronounce  the  words  of  awful  mystery  and 

1  Dr.  J.  Muir,  in  North  British  Review,  No.  xlix,  p.  224. 


40  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

power  on  which  depended  all  weal  or  woe.  On  all 
religious  occasions  the  priest  must  be  called  in,  and, 
on  all  occasions,  implicitly  obeyed.  For  a  considera- 
ble time  the  princes  struggled  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  priests ;  but  in  the  end  they  were  com- 
The  t  rann  of  P^e^J  vanquished.  Never  was  sacerdotal 
sacerdotalism.  tyranny  mOre  absolute  ;  the  proudest  pope 
in  mediaeval  times  never  lorded  it  over  "Western  Chris- 
tendom with  such  unrelenting  rigor  as  the  Brahmans 
exercised  over  both  princes  and  people.  The  feeling 
of  the  priests  is  expressed  in  a  well-known  stanza  : 

"All  the  world  is  subject  to  the  gods ;  the  gods  are  subject  to  the 
holy  texts;  the  holy  texts  are  subject  to  the  Brahman  ;  therefore  the 
Brahman  is  my  god." 

Yes,  the  sacred  man  could  breathe  the  spell  which 
made  earth  and  hell  and  heaven  itself  to  tremble.  He 
therefore  logically  called  himself  an  earthly  god.  In- 
deed, the  Brahman  is  always  logical.  He  draws  con- 
clusions from  premises  with  iron  rigor  of  reasoning  ; 
and  with  side-issues  he  has  nothing  to  do.  He  stands 
upon  his  rights.  Woe  to  the  being — god  or  man— 
who  com  06  in  conflict  with  him ! 
mtuai becomes  Tlie  Priests  naturally  multiplied  relig- 
extravaj?ant.  jolls  ceremonies,  and  made  ritual  the  soul  of 
worship.  Sacrifice  especially  assumed  still  more  and 


PHILOSOPHY,  AND  RITUALISM.  41 

more  exaggerated  forms — becoming  more  protracted, 
more  expensive,  more  bloody.  A  hecatomb  of  victims 
was  but  a  small  offering.  More  and  more  awful 
powers  were  ascribed  to  the  rite. 

But  the  tension  was  too  great,  and  the  bow  snapped. 

Buddhism    arose.     We    may   call  this  re- 
Reaction. 

markable  system  the  product  of  the  age — 
an  inevitable  rebellion  against  intolerable  sacerdotal- 
ism ;  and  yet  we  must  not  overlook  the  importance 
of  the  very  distinct  and  lofty  personality  of  Buddha 
(Sakya  Muni)  as  a  power  molding  it  into  shape. 

Wherever  it  extended  it  effected  a  vast  revolution 
in  Indian  thought.  Thus  in  regard  to  the 
institution  of  caste,  Buddha  did  not  at- 
tack it ;  he  did  not,  it  would  appear,  even  formally 
renounce  it ;  as  a  mere  social  institution  he  seems  to 
have  acknowledged  it ;  but  then  he  held  that  all  the 
religious  were  freed  from  its  restrictions.  "  My  law," 
said  he,  "  is  a  law  of  mercy  for  all ;  "  and  forthwith  he 
proceeded  to  admit  men  of  every  caste  into  the  closest 
fellowship  with  himself  and  his  followers.  Then,  he 
preached — he,  though  not  a  Brahman — in  the  vernacu- 
lar languages — an  immense  innovation,  which  made 
his  teachings  popular.  He  put  in  the  forefront  of 
his  system  certain  great  fundamental  principles  of 


42  THE  mxnr  nEL 

morality.  He  made  religion  consist  in  duty,  nut 
Moral  elements  r^tes-  He  reduced  duty  mainly  to  mercy  or 
of  this  system.  kjn(jness  toward  all  living  beings— a  mar- 
velous generalization.  This  set  aside  all  slaughter  of 
animals.  The  mind  of  the  princes  and  people  was 
weary  of  priestcraft  and  ritualism  ;  and  the  teaching 
of  the  great  reformer  was  most  timely.  Accordingly 
conflict  with  l"s  doctrine  spread  with  great  rapidity, 

Brahmanism.       an(j    f()r   ft  jong    time    it    geeme(J    ]{^e}y  to 

prevail  over  Brahmanism.  But  various  causes  grad- 
ually combined  against  it.  Partly,  it  was  over- 
whelmed by  its  own  luxuriance  of  growth ;  partly, 
victory  of  Brahmanism,  which  had  all  along  main- 
Brahmanism.  tame(j  an  intellectual  superiority,  adopted, 
either  from  conviction  or  policy,  most  of  the  princi- 
ples of  Buddhism,  and  skillfully  supplied  some  of  its 
main  deficiencies.  Thus  the  Brahmans  retained  their 
position  ;  and,  at  least  nominally,  their  religion  won 
the  day. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  43 


III. 

RECONSTRUCTION-MODERN    HINDUISM. 

BUT   the   Hinduism   that  grew  up,   as    Buddhism 
faded  from  Indian*  soil,  was  widely  differ-   Revival,  jp  an 

altered  fofm,of 

cut  from  the  system  with  which  early  Hinduism. 
Buddhism  had  contended.  Hinduism,  as  it  has  been 
developed  during  the  last  thousand  or  twelve  hun- 
dred years,  resembles  a  stupendous  far-extended  build- 
ing, or  series  of  buildings,  which  is  still  receiving 
additions,  while  portions  have  crumbled  and  are 
crumbling  into  ruin.  Every  conceivable  style  of 
architecture,  from  that  of  the  stately  palace  to  the 
meanest  hut,  is  comprehended  in  it.  On  a  portion  of 
the  structure  here  or  there  the  eye  may  rest  with 
pleasure ;  but  as  a  whole  it  is  an  unsightly,  almost 
monstrous,  pile.  Or,  dismissing  figures,  we  must  de- 
scribe it  as  the  most  extraordinary  creation  which  the 
world  has  seen.  A  jumble  of  all  things  ;  polytheistic 
pantheism  ;  much  of  Buddhism ;  something  appar- 
ently of  Christianity,  but  terribly  disfigured ;  a 
science  wholly  outrageous  ;  shreds  of  history  twisted 


44  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

into  wild  mythology  ;  the  bold  poetry  of  the  older 
books  understood  as  literal  prose  ;  any  local  deity,  any 
demon  of  the  aborigines,  however  hideous,  identified 
with  some  accredited  Hindu  divinity  ;  any  custom, 
however  repugnant  to  common  sense  or  common  de- 
cency, accepted  and  explained  —  in  a  word,  later  Hin- 
duism has  been  omnivorous  ;  it  has  partially  absorbed 
anc^assimilated  every  system  of  belief,  every  form  of 
worship,  with  which  it  has  come  in  contact.  Only 
one  or  *wo  thms  has  it  remained  in- 


oni    the      i 

JKtiliS!  nexibly  true.  It  has  steadily  upheld  the 
or  e  rcSteCtl°re!  proudest  pretensions  of  the  Brahman; 
and  it  has  never  relaxed  the  sternest  restric- 
tions of  caste.  We  cannot  wonder  at  the  severe  judg- 
ment pronounced  on  Hinduism  by  nearly  every  West- 
tern  author.  According  to  Macaulay,  "  all  is  hideous 
and  grotesque  and  ignoble  ;  "  and  the  calmer  De 
Tocqueville  maintains  that  "Hinduism  is  perhaps  the 
only  system  of  belief  that  is  worse  than  having  no 
religion  at  all."  ' 

When  a  modern  Hindu  is  asked  what  are  the  sacred 
books  of  his  religion    he  generally   answers:  "The 
Vedas,  the  Sastras  (that  is,  philosophical  systems),  and 
the  Pnranas."     Some  authorities  add  the  Tantras. 
'Miscellaneous  Writings  (Macmillan,  1861),  vol.  i,  p.  77. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  45 

The  modern  form  of  Hinduism  is  exhibited  chiefly 
in  the  eighteen  Puranas,  and  an  equal  number  of  Upa- 
puranas  (minor  Puranas).1 

When  we  compare  the  religion  embodied  in  the 
Puranas  with  that  of  Yedic  times  we  are 

The    Puranas. 

startled  at  the  magnitude  of  the  change. 
The  Pantheon  is  largely  new ;  old  deities  have  been 
superseded;  other  deities  have  taken  their  place. 
There  has  been  both  accretion  from  without  and  evo- 
lution from  within.  The  thirty-three  gods  of  the 
Vedas  have  been  fantastically  raised  to  three  hundred 
and  thirty  millions.  Siva,  Durga,  Rama,  Krishna, 
Kali — unknown  in  ancient  days — are  now  mighty  di- 
vinities ;  Indra  is  almost  entirely  overlooked,  and 
Varuna  has  been  degraded  from  his  lofty  throne  and 
turned  into  a  regent  of  the  waters. 

The  worship  of  the  Linga  (phallus)  has  been  intro- 
duced. So  has  the  great  dogma  of  Trans-  New  deities, 

rites,  and  cus- 

migration,  which  has   stamped  a  deeper  toms. 
impress  on  later  Hindu  mind  than  almost  any  other 
doctrine.     Caste  is  fully  established,  though  in  Vedic 
days  scarcely,  if  at  all,  recognized.    The  dreadful  prac- 

1  But  the  truth  is  that  every  man  is  accounted  a  good  Hindu  wlio 
keeps  the  rules  of  caste  and  pays  duo  respect  to  the  Brahmans.  What 
lie  believes,  or  disbelieves,  is  of  little  or  no  consequence. 


46  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

tice  of  widow-burning  has  been  brought  in,  and  this 
by  a  most  daring  perversion  of  the  Vedic  texts. 
Woman,  in  fact,  has  fallen  far  below  the  position  as- 
signed her  in  early  days. 

One  of  the  notable  things  in  connection  with  the 
„     „, ,        .    reconstruction  of  Hinduism  is  the  position 

The  Trimurtti, 

a  triad  of  gods.  it  giveg  to  t]je  Trimurtti,  or  triad  of  gods 
— Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva.  Something  like  an  an- 
ticipation of  this  has  been  presented  in  the  later  Yedic 
times :  fire,  air,  and  the  sun  (Agni,  Vayu,  and  Surya) 
being  regarded  by  the  commentator1  as  summing  up 
the  divine  energies.  But  in  the  Yedas  the  deities  often 
go  in  pairs  ;  and  little  stress  should  be  laid  on  the  idea 
of  a  Yedic  triad.  That  idea,  however,  came  promi- 
nently forward  in  later  days.  The  worship  both  of 
Vishnu  and  Siva  may  have  existed,  from  ancient  times, 
as  popular  rites  not  acknowledged  by  the  Brahmav.s  ; 
but  both  of  these  deities  were  now  fully  recognized. 
The  god  Brahma  was  an  invention  of  the  Brahmans ; 
he  was  no  real  divinity  of  the  people,  and  had  hardly 
ever  been  actually  worshiped.  It  is  usual  to  designate 
Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva  as  Creator,  Preserver,  and 
Destroyer  respectively ;  but  the  generalization  is  by 
no  means  well  maintained  in  the  Hindu  books. 
1  Yaska,  probably  in  the  fifth  century  B.  C. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  47 

The  Puranas    arc   in  general   violently  sectarian  ; 
sonic  being  Yislmuitc,  others  Sivite.     It  is  in  con- 
nection with  Vishnu,  especially,  that  the  idea  of  in- 
carnation   becomes    prominent.      The   Hindu   term 
is  Avatara,  literally,  descent;  the  deity 
is  represented  as  descending  from  heaven 
to  earth,  for  vindication  of  the  truth  and  righteous 
ness,  or,  to  use  the  words  ascribed  to  Krishna, 

For  the  preservation  of  the  good,  and  the  destruction  of  the  wicked, 
For  the  establishment  of  religion,  I  am  born  from  age  to  age. 

The  "  descents  "  of  Vishnu  are  usually  reckoned 
ten.  Of  these  by  far  the  most  celebrated  The  "  d  e  • 
are  those  of  Ham  a  and  Krishna.  The  vishnu. 
great  importance  attached  to  these  two  deities  has 
been  traced  to  the  influence  of  Buddhism.  That 
system  had  exerted  immense  power  in  consequence 
of  the  gentle  and  attractive  character  ascribed  to 
Buddha.  The  older  gods  were  dim,  distant,  and 
often  stern;  some  near,  intelligible,  and  loving  di- 
vinity was  longed  for.  Buddha  was  a  brother-man, 
and  yet  a  quasi-deity ;  and  hearts  longing  for  sym- 
pathy and  succor  were  strongly  attracted  by  such  a 
personality. 

The  character  of  Rama — or  Ramachandra — is  pos- 
sessed of   some  high  qualities.     The  great  poem  in 


48  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

which  it  is  described  at  fullest  length — the  Ramayana 
of  Valmiki — seems  to  have  been  an  alter- 

The  god  Rama. 

ation,  made  in  the  interests  of  Hindu- 
ism, of  early  Buddhist  legends ;  and  the  Buddhist 
quality  of  gentleness  has  not  disappeared  in  the  his- 
tory.1 Kama,  however,  is  far  from  a  perfect  charac- 
ter. His  wife  Sita  is  possessed  of  much  womanly 
grace  and  every  wifely  virtue  ;  and  the  sorrowful 
story  of  the  warrior-god  and  his  faithful  spouse  has 
appealed  to  deep  sympathies  in  the  human  breast. 
The  worship  of  Rama  has  seldom,  if  ever,  degener- 
ated into  lasciviousness.  In  spite,  however,  of  the 
charm  thrown  around  the  life  of  Rama  and  Sita  by 
the  genius  of  Valmiki  and  Tulsida,2  it  is  Krishna,  not 
Rama,  that  has  attained  the  greatest  popularity  among 
the  "  descents  "  of  Vishnu. 

Very  different  morally  from  that  of  Rama  is  the 

character  of  Krishna.      While    Rama   is 

Krishna. 

but  a  partial  manifestation  of  divinity 
Krishna  is  a  full  manifestation  ;  yet  what  a  manifes- 
tation !  He  is  represented  as  full  of  naughty  tricks 
in  his  youth,  although  exercising  the  highest  powers 

1  Weber  thinks  that  Christian  elements  may  have  been  introduced, 
in  course  of  time,  into  the  representation. 

*  His  Ramayana  was  written  in  Hindi  verse  in  the  sixteenth  cent- 
ury. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  49 

of  deity ;  and,  when  he  grows  up,  his  conduct  is 
grossly  immoral  and  disgusting.  It  is  most  startling 
to  think  that  this  being  is  by  grave  writers — like  the 
authors  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita  and  the  Bhagavatu 
Purana — made  the  highest  of  the  gods,  or,  indeed, 
the  only  real  God.  Stranger  still,  if  possible,  is  the 
probability  that  the  early  life  of  Krishna —  Hlg  ear]v  ,.fe  a 
in  part,  at  least— is  a  dreadful  travesty  of 
the  early  life  of  Christ,  as  given  in  the 
apocryphal  gospels,  especially  the  Gospel  the  Infancy- 
of  the  Infancy.  The  falling  off  in  the  apocryphal 
gospels,  when  compared  with  the  canonical,  is 
truly  sad ;  but  the  falling  off  even  from  the  apoc- 
ryphal ones,  in  the  Hindu  books,  is  altogether  sick- 
ening.1 

A  very  striking  characteristic  of  modern  Hinduism 
is  what  is  termed  bhakti,  or  devotion.  There  are 
three  great  ways  of  attaining  to  salvation :  karma 
marya,  or  the  way  of  ceremonial  works ;  jnana 

1  When  Jhiinsi  was  captured  in  the  times  of  the  great  mutiny 
English  officers  were  disgusted  to  see  the  walls  of  the  queen's  palace 
covered  with  what  they  described  as  "grossly  obscene"  pictures. 
There  is  little  or  no  doubt  that  these  were  simply  representations  of 
the  acts  of  Krishna.  Therefore  to  the  Hindu  queen  they  were  relig- 
ious pictures.  When  questioned  about  such  tilings  the  Brahmans 
reply  that  deeds  which  would  be  wicked  in  men  were  quite  right  in 
Krishna,  who,  being  God,  could  do  whatever  he  pleased. 


50  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

marga,  or  the  way  of  knowledge,  and  bkakti  marga, 
or  the  way  of  devotion. 

The  notion  of  trust  in  the  gods  was  familiar  to  the 
Doctrine      of  mind  of  India  from  Vedic  days,  but  the 

lihakti    intro-        -  .  .     .  . 

duced.  deity  was  indistinct   and  unsympathetic, 

and  there  could  hardly  be  love  and  attachment  to 
him.  But  there  now  arose  the  doctrine  of  lihakti  (de- 
votion), which  resolved  religion  into  emotion.  It 
came  into  the  Hindu  system  rather  abruptly;  and 
many  learned  men  have  traced  its  origin  to  the  in- 
fluence of  Christianity.  This  is  quite  possible;  but 
perhaps  the  fact  is  hardly  proved.  Contact  with 
Christianity,  however,  probably  accelerated  a  process 
influence  of  w^^c^  ^a(^  previously  begun.  At  all 
the  system.  events,  the  system  of  Wiakti  has  had,  and 
still  has,  great  sway  in  India,  particularly  in  Bengal, 
among  the  followers  of  Chaitanya,  and  the  large  body 
of  people  in  western  India  who  style  themselves 
VaisJniavas  or  Bhaktas  (devotees).  The  popular 
poetry  of  Maharashtra,  as  exemplified  in  such  poets 
as  Tukarama,  is  an  impassioned  inculcation  of  devo- 
tion to  Vithoba  of  Panel liarpur,  who  is  a  manifestation 
Mixed  with  of  Krishna.  Into  the  bhakti  system  of 

Buddhist    ele- 
ments, western.    India    Buddhist    elements    have 

entered  ;  and  the  school  of  devotees  is  often  denomi- 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  51 

nated  Bauddha-Vaishnava.  Along  with  extravagant 
idolatry  it  inculcates  generally,  at  least  in  the  Maratha 
country,  a  pure  morality  ;  and  the  latter  it  apparently 
owes  to  Buddhism.  Yet  there  are  many  sad  lapses 
from  purity.  Almost  of  necessity  the  worship  of 
Krishna  led  to  corruption.  The  hymns  became  erotic ; 
and  movements  hopeful  at  their  commencement — like 
that  of  Chaitanya  of  Bengal,  in  the  sixteenth  century 
— soon  grievously  fell  off  in  character.  The  attempt 
to  make  religion  consist  of  emotion  without  thought, 
of  Wiakti  without  jnana,  had  disastrous  issues.  Coin- 
cident with  the  development  of  bhakti  Exaltation  0, 
was  the  exaltation  of  the  guru,  or  relig-  the0Mru- 
ious  teacher,  which  soon  amounted  to  deiti cation — 
a  change  traceable  from  about  the  twelfth  century 
A.D. 

When   pressed   on   the   subject  of   Krishna's  evil 
deeds  many  are  anxious  to  explain  them     Explanations 

T,  .     ,  of    Krishna's 

as  allegorical  representations  of  the  union  evil  deeds, 
between  the  divinity  and  true  worshipers;  but  some 
interpret  them  in  the  most  literal  way  possible.  This 
is  done  especially  by  the  followers  of  Vallabha  Acha- 
rya.1  These  men  attained  a  most  unenviable  noto- 
riety about  twenty  years  ago,  when  a  case  was  tried 
1  Born  probably  in  1649. 


52  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Bombay,  which  revealed  the 
practice  of  the  most  shameful  licentiousness  by  the 
religious  teachers  and  their  female  followers,  and  this 
as  a  part  of  worship !  The  disgust  excited  was  so 
great  and  general  that  it  was  believed  the  influence 
of  the  sect  was  at  an  end ;  but  this  hope  unhappily 
has  not  been  realized. 

Reformers  have  arisen  from  time  to  time  in  India ; 

Reforms  at-     men  who  saw  the  deplorable  corruption 

of   religion,  and   strove  to  restore   it   to 

what  they  considered  purity.     Next   to   Buddha  we 

may   mention   Kabir,    to    whom   are   as- 

Kabir. 

cribed  many  verses  still  popular.  Prob- 
ably the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God,  aj  maintained 
by  the  Mohammedans,  had  impressed  him.  lie 
opposed  idolatry,  caste,  and  Brahmanical  assumption. 
Yet  his  monotheism  was  a  kind  of  pantheism.  His 
date  may  be  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Nanak  followed  and  founded  the  religion 

Nanak. 

of  the  Sikhs.  His  sacred  book,  the 
Granth,  is  mainly  pantheistic  ;  it  dwells  earnestly  on 
devotion,  especially  devotion  to  the  guru.  The 
Sikhs  now  seem  slowly  relapsing  into  idolatry.  In 
truth,  the  history  of  all  attempts  at  reformation  in 
India  has  been  most  discouragiug.  Sect  after  sect 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  53 

has  successively  risen  to  some  elevation  above  the 
prevalent  idolatry  ;  and  then  gradually,  as  by  some 
irresistible  gravitation,  it  has  sunk  back  into  the  mare 
magnum  of  Hinduism.  If  we  regard  experience, 
purification  from  within  is  hopeless ;  the 

Failure  of    all 

struggle  for  it  is  only  a  repetition  of  the  reforms, 
toil  of  Sisyphus,  and  always  with  the  same  sad  issue. 
Deliverance  must  come  from  without — from  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ. 

We  mentioned  the  Tantras  as  exerting  great  in- 
fluence in  later  days.1  In  these  the  wor-  Influenceofthe 
ship  of  Siva,  and,  still  more,  that  of  his  Tantras- 
wife,  is  predominant.  The  deity  is  now  supposed  to 
possess  a  double  nature — one  quiescent,  one  active ; 
the  latter  being  regarded  as  the  Sakti  or  energy  of  the 
god,  otherwise  called  his  wife.  The  origin  of  the 
system  is  not  fully  explained ;  nor  is  the  date  of  its 
rise  ascertained.  The  worship  assumes  WOTShfpofthe 
wild,  extravagant  forms,  generally  ob-  Saktl- 
scene,  sometimes  bloody.  It  is  divided  into  two 
schools — that  of  the  right  hand  and  that  of  the  left. 
The  former  runs  into  mysticism  and  magic  in  compli- 

1  Raja  Narayan  Basil  (Bose),  in  enumerating  the  sacred  books  of 
Hinduism,  excluded  the  philosophical  systems  and  included  the  Tan- 
tras. He  was  and,  we  believe,  is  a  leading  man  in  the  Adi  Brahma 
Somaj. 


54  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

cated  observances,  and  the  latter  into  the  most  ap- 
palling licentiousness.  The  worship  of  the  Sakti,  or 
female  principle,  has  become  a  most  elaborate  system. 
The  beings  adored  are  "  the  most  outrageous  divin- 
ities which  man  has  ever  conceived.".1  Sorcery  began 
early  in  India ;  but  it  is  in  connection  with  this  sys- 
tem that  it  attains  to  full  development.  Human  sac- 
rifices are  a  normal  part  of  the  worship  when  fully 
performed.  We  cannot  go  farther  into  detail.  It  is 
profoundly  saddening  to  think  that  such  abomina- 
tions are  committed ;  it  is  still  more  saddening  to 
think  that  they  are  performed  as  a  part  of  divine 
worship.  Conscience,  however,  is  so  far  alive  that 
these  detestable  rites  are  practiced  only  in  secret, 
and  few,  if  any,  are  willing  to  confess  that  they  have 
been  initiated  as  worshipers. 

We  have  not  yet  said   much   about  the  ritual  of 
modern  days.     It  is  exceedingly  compli- 

Modern  ritual. 

cated.  In  the  case  of  the  god  Siva  the 
rites  are  as  follows,  when  performed  by  a  priest  in 
the  temple : 

The  Brahman  first  bathes,  then  enters  the  temple  and  bows  to  the 
Worship  of  g°d-  He  anoints  the  image  with  clarified  butter  or 
Siva,  boiled  oil;  pours  pure  water  over  it;  and  then  wipes 

it  dry.     He  grinds  some  white  powder,  mixing  it  with  water;  dips 

1  Barlh,  as  above,  p.  202. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  55 

the  ends  of  his  three  forefingers  in  it  and  draws  them  across  the 
image.  He  sits  down;  meditates;  places  rice  and  durwa  grass  on 
the  image — places  a  flower  on  his  own  head,  and  then  on  the  top  of 
the  image;  then  another  flower  on  the  image,  and  another,  and  an- 
other— accompanying  each  act  with  the  recitation  of  sacred  spells ; 
places  white  powder,  flowers,  bilva-leaves,  incense,  meat-offerings, 
rice,  plantains,  and  a  lamp  before  the  image ;  repeats  the  name  of 
Siva,  with  praises,  then  prostrates  himself  before  the  image.  In  the 
evening  he  returns,  washes  his  feet,  prostrates  himself  before  the 
door,  opens  the  door,  places  a  lamp  within,  offers  milk,  sweet-meats, 
and  fruits  to  the  image,  prostrates  himself  before  it,  locks  the  door, 
and  departs. 

Very  similar  is  the  worship  paid  to  Vishnu : 

The  priest  bathes,  and  then  awakes  the  sleeping  god  by  blowing 
a  shell  and  ringing  a  bell.  More  abundant  offerings  Worship  of 
are  made  than  to  Siva.  About  noon,  fruits,  roots,  Vishnu, 
soaked  peas,  sweet-meats,  etc.,  are  presented.  Then,  later,  boiled 
rice,  fried  herbs,  and  spices ;  but  no  flesh,  fish,  nor  fowl.  After  din- 
ner, betel-nut.  The  god  is  then  left  to  sleep,  and  the  temple  is  shut 
up  for  some  hours.  Toward  evening  curds,  butter,  sweet-meats, 
fruits,  are  presented.  At  sunset  a  lamp  is  brought,  and  fresh  offer- 
ings made.  Lights  are  waved  before  the  image;  a  small  bell  is  rung; 
water  is  presented  for  washing  the  mouth,  face,  and  feet,  with  a 
towel  to  dry  them.  In  a  few  minutes  the  offerings  and  the  lamp  are 
removed;  and  the  god  is  left  to  sleep  in  the  dark. 

The  prescribed  worship  is  not  always  fully  per- 
formed. Still,  sixteen  things  are  essential,  of  which 
the  following  are  the  most  important : 

"Preparing  a  seat  for  the  god;  invoking  his  presence:  bathing 
the  image;  clothing  it;  putting  the  string  round  it;  offering  per- 
fumes; flowers;  incense;  lamps;  offerings  of  fruits  and  prepared 
entnblcs;  betel. nut ;  prayers;  circumambulatiou.  An  ordinary  wor- 


56  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

shiper  presents  some  of  the  offerings,  mutters  a  short  prayer  or  two, 
when  circumambulating  the  image,  the  rest  being  done  by  the 
priest."  ] 

We  give  one  additional  specimen  of  the  ritual : 

"  As  an  atonement  for  unwarily  eating  or  drinking  what  is  for- 
bidden eight  hundred  repetitions  of  the  Gayatri  prayer  should  be  pre- 
ceded by  three  suppressions  of  the  breath,  water  being  touched  dur- 
ing the  recital  of  the  following  text :  '  The  bull  roars ;  he  has  four 
horns,  three  feet,  two  heads,  seven  hands,  and  is  bound  by  a  three- 
fold cord;  he-is  the  mighty,  resplendent  being,  and  pervades  mortal 
men.' "  * 

The  bull  is  understood  to  be  justice  personified. 
All  Brahmanical  ceremonies  exhibit,  we  may  say, 
ritualism  and  symbolism  run  mad. 

The  most  prominent  and  characteristic  institution  of 
Hinduism  is  caste.  The  power  of  caste  is  as 
irrational  as  it  is  unbounded  ;  and  it  works 
almost  unmixed  evil.  The  touch — even  the  shadow — 
of  a  low  caste  man  pollutes.  The  scriptural  precept, 
"  Honor  all  men,"  appears  to  a  true  Hin'du  infinitely 
absurd.  He  honors  and  worships  a  cow ;  but  he 
shrinks  with  horror  from  the  touch  of  a  Mhar  or 
Mang.  Even  Brahmans,  if  they  come  from  different 
provinces,  will  not  eat  together.  Tims  Hinduism 
separates  man  from  man  ;  it  goes  on  dividing  and 

1  So  writes  Tans  Kennedy,  a  good  authority.  The  rites,  however, 
vary  with  varying  places. 

8  Asiatic  Researches,  v,  p.  356. 


RECONSTRUCTION— MODERN  HINDUISM.  57 

still  dividing ;  and  new  fences  to  guard  imaginary 
purity  are  continually  added. 

The  whole  treatment  of  women  has  gradually  be- 
come most  tyrannical  and  unjust.  In  very  Treatment  of 
ancient  days  they  were  held  in  consider-  women> 
able  respect ;  but,  for  ages  past,  the  idea  of  woman 
has  been  steadily  sinking  lower  and  lower,  and  her 
rights  have  been  more  and  more  assailed.  The  burn- 
ing of  widows  has  been  prohibited  by  enactment ; 
but  the  awful  rite  would  in  many  places  be  restored 
were  it  not  for  the  strong  hand  of  the  British  govern- 
ment. The  practice  of  marrying  women  in  childhood 
is  still  generally — all  but  universally— prevalent ;  and 
when,  owing  to  the  zeal  of  reformers,  a  case  of  widow- 
marriage  occurs,  its  rarity  makes  it  be  hailed  as  a  signal 
triumph.  Multitudes  of  the  so-called  widows  were 
never  really  wives,  their  husbands  (so-called)  having 
died  in  childhood.  Widows  are  subjected 

Widows. 

to  treatment  which  they  deem  worse  than 
death  ;  and  yet  their  number,  it  is  calculated,  amounts 
to  about  twenty-one  millions !  More  cruel  and  demoral- 
izing customs  than  exist  in  India  in  regard  to  women 
can  hardly  be  found  among  the  lowest  barbarians.  We 
are  glad  to  escape  from  dwelling  on  points  so  exceed- 
ingly painful. 


58  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 


IV. 

CONTRAST    WITH    CHRISTIANITY. 

THE  immense  difference  between  the  Hindu  and 
Christian  religions  lias  doubtless  already  frequently 
suggested  itself  to  the  reader.  Ii^will  not  be  neces- 
sary, therefore,  to  dwell  on  this  topic  at  very  great 
length.  The  contrast  forces  itself  upon  us  at  every 
point. 

When,  about  fifteen  centuries  B.  C.,  the  Aryas 
The  Aryas  and  were  victoriously  occupying  the  Pan  jab, 

Israelites—  . 

their  probable  and  the  Israelites  were  escaping  rrom  toe 
1500 B.'C.  "iron  furnace"  of  Egypt,  if  one  had  been 
asked  which  of  the  two  races  would  probably  rise  to 
the  highest  conception  of  the  divine,  and  contribute 
most  largely  to  the  well-being  of  mankind,  the  answer. 
quite  possibly,  might  have  been,  the  Aryas.  Egypt, 
with  its  brutish  idolatries,  had  corrupted  the  faith  of 
the  Israelites,  and  slavery  had  crushed  all  manliness 
contrast  of  out  of  them.  Yet  how  wonderful  has 

their  after-his- 
tory, been  their  after-history !     Among  ancient 

religions  that  of  the  Old  Testament  stands  absolutely 


CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  59 

unique,  and  in  the  fullness  of  time  it  blossomed  into 
Christianity.  How  is  the  marvel  to  be  explained? 
We  cannot  account  for  it  except  by  ascribing  it  to  a 
divine  election  of  the  Israelites  and  a  providential 
training  intended  to  fit  them  to  become  the  teachers 
of  the  world.  "  Salvation  is  of  the  Jews." 

The  contrast  between  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
and  those  of  the  Hindu  books  is  simply  infinite. 

The  conception  of  a  purely  immaterial  Being,  in- 
finite, eternal,  and  unchangeable,  which  is  Hindu  theology 

compared  with 

that  of  the  Bible  regarding  God,  is  entirely  Christian, 
foreign  to  the  Hindu  books.     Their  doctrine  is  va- 
rious, but,  in  every  case,  erroneous.     It  is  absolute 
pantheism,  or   polytheism,  or  an  inconsistent  blend- 
ing of  polytheism  and  pantheism,  or  atheism. 

Equally  striking  is  the  contrast  between  Christian- 
ity and  Hinduism  as  to  the  attributes  of  God.  Ac- 
cording to  the  former,  he  is  omnipresent ;  omnipotent ; 
possessed  of  every  excellence — holiness,  justice,  good- 
ness, truth.  According  to  the  chief  Hindu  philosophy, 
the  Supreme  is  devoid  of  attributes — devoid  of  con- 
sciousness. According  to  the  popular  conception, 
when  the  Supreme  becomes  conscious  he  is  devel- 
oped into  three  gods,  who  possess  respectively  the 
qualities  of  truth,  passion,  and  darkness. 


60  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

"God  is  a  Spirit."  "God  is  light."  "God  is 
conception  of  ^ove-"  These  sublime  declarations  have 
no  counterparts  in  Hindustan. 

He  is  "  the  Father  of  spirits,"  according  to  the 
Bible.  According  to  Hinduism,  the  individual  spirit 
is  a  portion  of  the  divine.  Even  the  common  people 
firmly  believe  this. 

Eveiy  thing  is  referred  by  Hinduism  to  God  as  its 
immediate  cause.  A  Christian  is  continually  shocked 
by  the  Hindus  ascribing  all  sin  to  God  as  its  source. 

The  adoration  of  God  as  a  Being  possessed  of  every 
The  object  of  gl°ri°lls  excellence  is  earnestly  commanded 
worship.  in  tlie  Bjbie>  "Thou  shalt  worship  the 

Lord  thy  God;  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  In 
India  the  Supreme  is  never  worshiped ;  but  any  one 
of  the  multitudinous  gods  may  be  so ;  and,  in  fact, 
every  thing  can  be  worshiped  except  God.  A  maxim 
in  the  mouth  of  every  Hindu  is  the  following: 
"  Where  there  is  faith,  there  is  God."  Believe  the 
stone  a  god  and  it  is  so. 

Every  sin   being   traced   to   God    as   its   ultimate 

rue  sense  of    source>  tne  sense  of  personal  guilt  is  very 

slight  among  Hindus.     Where  it  exists  it 

is  generally  connected  with  ceremonial  defilement  or 

the  breach  of  some  one  of  the  innumerable  and  mean- 


CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  61 

ingless  rites  of  the  religion.  How  unlike  in  all  this 
is  the  Gospel!  The  "Bible  dwells  with  all  possible 
earnestness  on  the  evil  of  sin,  not  of  ceremonial  but 
moral  defilement — the  transgression  of  the  divine  law, 
the  eternal  law  of  right. 

How  important  a  place  in  the  Christian  system  is 
held   by  atonement,  the  great  atonement 

Atonement. 

made  by  Christ,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say. 
Nor  need  we  enlarge  on  the  extraordinary  power  it 
exercises  over  the  human  heart,  at  once  filling  it  with 
contrition,  hatred  of  sin,  and  overflowing  joy.  We  turn 
to  Hinduism.  Alas !  we  find  that  the  earnest  ques- 
tionings and  higher  views  of  the  ancient  thinkers  have 
in  a  great  degree  been  ignored  in  later  times.  Sacri- 
fice in  its  original  form  has  passed  away.  Atonement 
is  often  spoken  of ;  but  it  is  only  some  paltry  device 
or  other,  such  as  eating  the  five  products  of  the  cow, 
going  on  pilgrimage  to  some  sacred  shrine,  paying 
money  to  the  priests,  or,  it  may  be,  some  form  of 
bodily  penance.  Such  expedients  leave  no  impres- 
sion on  the  heart  as  to  the  true  nature  and  essential 
evil  of  sin. 
Salvation, in  the  Christian  system, denotes 

Salvation. 

deliverance,  not  only  from  the  punishment 

of  sin,  but  from  its  power,  implying  a  renovation  of  the 


62  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

moral  nature.     The  entire  man  is  to  be  rectified  in 
heart,  speech,  and  behavior.     The  perfec- 

Sanctmcation. 

tion  of  the  individual,  and,  through  that, 
the  perfection  of  society,  are  the  objects  aimed  at ;  and 
the  consummation  desired  is  the  doing  of  the  will  of 
God  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  Now,  of  all  this, 
surely  a  magnificent  ideal,  we  find  in  Hinduism  no 
trace  whatever. 

Christianity  is  emphatically  a  religion  of  hope  ;  Hin- 
duism  may  be   designated  a  religion   of 

Views  of  life. 

despair.  The  trials  of  life  are  many  and 
great.  Christianity  bids  us  regard  them  as  discipline 
from  a  Father's  hand,  and  tells  us  that  affliction  rightly 
borne  yields  "  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness." 
To  death  the  Christian  looks  forward  without  fear ; 
to  him  it  is  a  quiet  sleep,  and  the  resurrection  draws 
nigh.  Then  comes  the  beatific  vision  of  God.  Glori- 
fied in  soul  and  body,  the  companion  of  angels  and 
saints,  strong  in  immortal  youth,  he  \vill  serve  with- 
out let  or  hinderance  the  God  and  Saviour  whom  he 
loves.  To  the  Hindu  the  trials  of  life  are  penal,  not 
remedial.  At  death  his  soul  passes  into  another  body. 
Rightly,  every  human  soul  animates  in  succession 
eighty-four  lacs  (S,-iOO,000)  of  bodies — the  body  of  a 
human  being,  or  a  beast,  or  a  bird,  or  a  fish,  or  a  plant, 


CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  63 

or  a  stone,  according  to  desert.  This  weary,  all  but 
endless,  round  of  births  fills  the  mind  of  a  Hindu  with 
the  greatest  horror.  At  last  the  soul  is  lost  in  God  as 
a  drop  mingles  with  the  ocean.  Individual  existence 
and  consciousness  then  cease.  The  thought  is  pro- 
foundly sorrowful  that  this  is  the  cheerless  The  great  ten- 
et of  Hindu- 
faith  of  countless  multitudes.  No  wonder,  ism. 

though,  the  great  tenet  of  Hinduism  is  this — Existence 
is  misery. 

So  much  for  the  future  of  the  individual.  Re- 
garding the  future  of  the  race  Hinduism  The  future  of 
speaks  in  equally  cheerless  terms.  Its  the  race- 
golden  age  lies  in  the  immeasurably  distant  past; 
and  the  further  we  recede  from  it  the  deeper  must  we 
plunge  into  sin  and  wretchedness.  True,  ages  and 
ages  hence  the  "  age  of  truth  "  returns,  but  it  returns 
only  to  pass  away  again  and  torment  us  with  the 
memory  of  lost  purity  and  joy.  The  experience  of 
the  universe  is  thus  an  eternal  renovation  of  hope  and 
disappointment.  In  the  struggle  between  The  struggle 

between    good 

good  and  evil  there  is  no  final  triumph  for  andevii. 
the  good.    We  tread  a  fated,  eternal  round  from  which 
there  is  no  escape ;   and  alike  the  hero  fights  and  the 
martyr  dies  in  vain. 

It  is  remarkable   that   acute   intellectual   men,  as 


64  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

many  of  the  Hindu  poets  were,  should  never  have 
grappled  with  the  problem  of  the  divine  government 
of  the  world. 

Equally  notable    is    the    unconcern   of   the  Veda 
The  future  of  as  ^°  ^ie  we^are  and  the  future  of  even 

the  Aryan  race.    ^  ^ran    race>      gilt  how  sublime  is  the 


promise  given  to  Abraham  that  in  him  and  his  seed 
all  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed  !  Renan  has 
pointed  with  admiration  to  the  confidence  entertained 
at  all  times  by  the  Jew  in  a  brilliant  and  happy  future 
for  mankind.  The  ancient  Hindu  cared  not  about  the 
future  of  his  neighbors,  and  doubtless  even  the  expres- 
sion "human  race"  would  have  been  unintelligible  to 
him.  Nor  is  there  any  pathos  in  the  Yeda.  There  is 
no  deep  sense  of  the  sorrows  of  life.  Max  M  filler  has 
affixed  the  epithet  "  transcendent  "  to  the  Hindu  mind. 
Its  bent  was  much  more  toward  the  metaphysical,  the 
mystical,  the  incomprehensible  than  toward  the  moral 
and  the  practical.  Hence  endless  subtleties,  more 
meaningless  and  unprofitable  than  ever  occupied  the 
mind  of  Talmudist  or  schoolman  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  words  of  But  finally  >  °n  this  part  of  the  subject, 
frate^ltly  H"^  tne  development  of  Indian  religion  sup- 
plies a  striking  comment  on  the  \vonls 
of  St.  Paul  : 


CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  65 

"  The  invisible  things  of  God  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood 
from  the  things  that  are  made.  But  when  they  knew  God  they  glo- 
rified him  not  as  God,  neither  were  thankful,  but  became  vain  in 
their  imaginations,  and  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened." 

Hinduism  is  deplorably  deficient  in  power  to  raise 
and  purify  the  human  soul,  from  having 

Moral  power. 

no  high  example  of  moral  excellence.  Its 
renowned  sages  were  noted  for  irritability  and  selfish- 
ness— great  men  at  cursing ;  and  the  gods  for"  the 
most  part  were  worse.  Need  we  say  how  gloriously 
rich  the  Gospel  is  in  having  in  the  character  of  Christ 
the  realized  ideal  of  every  possible  excellence  ? 

/Summa  religionis  est  imitari  quern  colis :  "  It  is 
the  sum  of  religion  to  imitate  the  being  Ethical  effect 
worshiped  ; " '  or,  as  the  Hindus  express  °r  Hinduism- 
it:  "As  is  the  deity  such  is  the  devotee."  Worship 
the  God  revealed  in  the  Bible,  and  you  become  god- 
like. The  soul  strives,  with  divine  aid,  to  "  purify  it- 
self even  as  God  is  pure."  But  apply  the  principle  to 
Hinduism.  Alas!  the  Pantheon  is  almost  a  pande- 
monium. Krishna,  who  in  these  days  is  the  chief 
deity  to  at  least  a  hundred  millions  of  people,  does 
not  possess  one  elevated  attribute.  If,  in  the  circum- 
stances, society  does  not  become  a  moral  pesthouse  it 

1  Cicero. 


66  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

is  only  because  the  people  continue  better  than  their 
The  people  bet-  religion.  The  human  heart,  though  fallen, 

ter  than  their 

religion.  is  not  fiendish.     It  has  still  its   purer  in- 

stincts; and,  when  the  legends  about  abominable 
gods  and  goddesses  are  falling  like  mildew,  these  are 
still  to  some  extent  kept  alive  by  the  sweet  influences 
of  earth  and  sky  and  by  the  charities  of  family  life. 
When  the  heart  of  woman  is  about  to  be  swept  into 
the  abyss  her  infant's  smile  restores  her  to  her  better 
self.  Thus  family  life  does  not  go  to  ruin ;  and  so 
long  as  that  anchor  holds  society  will  not  drift  on  the 
rocks  that  stand  so  perilously  near.  Still,  the  state  of 
tilings  is  deplorably  distressing. 

The  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  is  of  fundamental 
The  doctrine  of  importance  in  Christianity.  It  seems  al- 
incamation.  most  profanation  to  compare  it  with  the 
Hindu  teaching  regarding  the  Avataras,  or  descents 
of  Vishnu.  It  is  difficult  to  extract  any  meaning  out 
of  the  three  first  manifestations,  when  the  god  became 
in  succession  a  fish,  a  boar,  and  a  tortoise.  Of  the 
great  "  descents  "  in  Rama  and  Krishna  we  have  al- 
ready spoken.  The  ninth  Avatara  was  that  of  Bud- 
dha, in  which  the  deity  descended  for  the  purpose  of 
deceiving  men,  making  them  deny  the  gods,  and  lead- 
ing them  to  destruction.  So  blasphemous  an  idea 


CONTRAST  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.  67 

may  seem  hardly  possible,  even  for  the  bewildered 
mind  of  India ;  but  this  is  doubtless  the  Brahmanical 
explanation  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  Buddhism.  It 
was  fatal  error,  but  inculcated  by  a  divine  being. 
Even  the  sickening  tales  of  Krishna  and  his  amours 
are  less  shocking  than  this.  When  we  turn  from  such 
representations  of  divinity  to  "  the  "Word  made  flesh  " 
we  seem  to  have  escaped  from  the  pestilential  air  of  a 
charnel-house  to  the  sweet,  pure  breath  of  heaven. 


THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 


Y. 

HINDUISM  IN   CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY. 

WE  have  used  the  word  reformer  in  this  Tract. 

Attem  ted  re-  ^e  formerly  noted  that,  in   India,  there 

have  arisen  from  time  to  time  men  who 

saw  and  sorrowed  over  the  erroneous  doctrines  and 

degrading  rites  of  the  popular  system. 

In  quite  recent  times  they  have  had  successors. 
Some  account  of  their  work  may  form  a  fitting  con- 
clusion to  our  discussion. 

With  the  large  influx  into  India  of  Christian  ideas 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  some  impression  would  be 
made  on  Hinduism.  We  do  not  refer  to  conversion 
— the  full  acceptance  of  the  Christian  faith.  Chris- 
tianity has  advanced  and  is  advancing  in 

Advance  of 

Christianity  in  India  more  rapidly  than  is  generally  sup- 
posed ;  but  far  beyond  the  circle  of  those 
who  "  come  out  and  are  separate  "  its  mighty  power 
is  telling  on  Hinduism.  The  great  fundamental 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  when  once  uttered  and  under- 
stood, can  hardly  be  forgotten.  Disliked  and  denied 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.        69 

they  may  be ;  but  forgotten  ?  No.  Thus  they 
gradually  win  their  way,  and  multitudes  who  have 
no  thought  of  becoming  Christians  are  ready  to  ad- 
mit that  they  are  beautiful  and  true ;  for  belief  and 
practice  are  often  widely  separated  in  Hindu  minds. 

But  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  new  ideas  pour- 
ing into  India — and  among  these  we  include  not 
only  distinctively  Christian  ideas,  but  Western 
thought  generally — would  manifest  their  presence 
and  activity  in  concrete  forms,  in  attempted  recon- 
structions of  religion.  The  most  remarkable  example 
of  such  a  reconstruction  is  exhibited  in  The  Brabma 
the  Brahmo  Somaj  (more  correctly  Brah-  Sama]' 
ma  Samaj) — which  may  be  rendered  the  "  Church  of 
God." 

It  is  traceable  to  the  efforts  of  a  truly  distinguished 
man,  Rammohun  Roy.  He  was  a  person  Rammohun 
of  studious  habits,  intelligent,  acute,  and  Roy* 
deeply  in  earnest  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He 
studied  not  only  Hinduism  in  its  various  forms,  but 
Buddhism,  Mohammedanism,  and  Christianity.  He 
was  naturally  an  eclectic,  gathering  truth  from  all 
quarters  where  he  thought  he  could  find  it.  A  spe- 
cially deep  impression  was  made  on  his  mind  by 
Christianity ;  and  in  1820  he  published  a  book  with 


70  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

the  remarkable  title,  The  Precepts  of  Jesus  the  Guide 
Effect  of  Chris-  to  Peace  and  Happiness.  Very  fre- 

tlanity      upon 

him.  quently  he  gave  expression  to  the  senti- 

ment that  the  teachings  of  Christ  were  the  truest 
and  deepest  that  he  knew.  Still,  he  did  not  believe 
in  Christ's  divinity. 

In  January,  1830,  a  place  of  worship  was  opened 
by  Raramohun  Roy  and  his  friends.  It  was  intended 
for  the  worship  of  one  God,  without  idolatrous  rites 
of  any  kind.  This  was  undoubtedly  a  very  impor- 
tant event,  and  great  was  the  interest  aroused  in  con- 
nection with  it.  Eammohun  Roy,  however,  visited 
Britain  in  1831,  and  died  at  Bristol  in  1833  ;  and  the 
cause  for  which  he  had  so  earnestly  labored  in  India 
languished  for  a  time.  But  in  the  year  1841  De- 
Debendernath  bendernath  Tagore,  a  man  of  character 
and  wealth,  joined  the  Brahmo  Somaj, 
and  gave  a  kind  of  constitution  to  it.  It  was  fully 
organized  by  1844.  No  definite  declaration,  how- 
ever, had  been  made  as  to  the  authority  of  the  Vedas ; 
but,  after  a  lengthened  period  of  inquiry  and  discus- 
sion, a  majority  of  the  Somaj  rejected  the  doctrine 
of  their  infallibility  by  1850.  "  The  rock  of  intui- 
tion "  now  began  to  be  spoken  of ;  man's  reason  was 
his  sufficient  guide.  Still,  great  respect  was  cher- 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.        71 

ished  for  the  ancient  belief  and  customs  of  the  land. 
But  in  1858  a  new  champion  appeared  on  the  scene, 
in  the  well-known  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  Keshub  chun. 
Ardent,  impetuous,  ambitious — full  of  derSen- 
ideas  derived  from  Christian  sources1 — he  could  not 
brook  the  slow  movements  of  the  Somaj  in  the  path 
of  reform.  Important  changes,  both  religious  and 
social,  were  pressed  by  him  ;  and  the  more  conserva- 
tive Debendernath  somewhat  reluctantly  consented  to 
their  introduction.  Matters  were,  however,  brought 
to  a  crisis  by  the  marriage  of  two  persons  of  different 
castes  in  1864.  In  February,  1865,  the  progressive 
party  formally  severed  their  connection  with  the 
original  Somaj  ;  and  in  August,  1869,  Formatlon  of  a 
they  opened  a  new  place  of  worship  of  newSamaJ- 
their  own.  Since  this  time  the  original  or  Adi 
Somaj  has  been  little  heard  of,  and  its  movement — 
if  it  has  moved  at  all — has  been  retrogressive.  The 
new  Somaj — the  Brahmo  Somaj  of  India,  as  it  called 
itself — under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  Sen  became  very 
active.  A  missionary  institute  was  set  up,  and 
preachers  were  sent  over  a  great  part  of  India.  Much 
was  accomplished  on  behalf  of  women ;  and  in  1872 

1  We  learned  from  his  own  lips  that  among  the  books  which  most 
deeply  impressed  him  were  the  Bible  and  the  writings  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 


72  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

a  Marriage  Act  for  members  of  the  Somaj  was  passed 
by  the  Indian  legislature,  which  legalized  union  be- 
tween people  of  different  castes,  and  fixed  on  four- 
teen as  the  lowest  age  for  the  marriage  of  females. 
These  were  important  reforms. 

Mr.  Sen's  influence  was  naturally  and  necessarily 
great;  but  in  opposing  the  venerable  leader  of  the 
original  Somaj  lie  had  set  an  example  which  others 
were  quite  willing  to  copy. 

Several  of  his  followers  began  to  demand  more 
Discontent  ra(^ical  reforms  than  he  was  willing  to 
srrowing.  grant.  The  autocracy  exercised  by  Mr. 
Sen  was  strongly  objected  to,  and  a  constitution  of 
the  Somaj  was  demanded.  Mr.  Sen  openly  main- 
tained that  heaven  from  time  to  time  raises  up  men 
endowed  with  special  powers,  and  commissioned  to 
introduce  new  forms  or  "  dispensations  "  of  religion  ; 
and  his  conduct  fully  proved  that  he  regarded  him- 
self as  far  above  his  followers.  Complaints  became 
louder ;  and  although  the  eloquence  and  genius  of 
Kcshub  were  able  to  keep  the  rebellious  elements 
from  exploding  it  was  evident,  as  early  as  1873,  that 
a  crisis  was  approaching.  This  came  in  1878,  when 
Mr.  Sen's  daughter  was  married  to  the  Maharaja  of 
Kuch  Behar.  The  bride  was  not  fourteen,  and  the 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.        73 

bridegroom  was  sixteen.  Now,  Mr.  Sen  had  been 
earnest  and  successful  in  getting  the  Brahmo  Mar- 
riage Act  passed,  which  ruled  that  the  lowest  mar- 
riageable age  for  a  woman  was  fourteen,  and  for  a 
man  eighteen.  Here  was  gross  inconsistency.  What 
could  explain  it?  "Ambition,"  exclaimed  great 
numbers ;  "  the  wish  to  exalt  himself  and  his 
daughter  by  alliance  with  a  prince."  But  Mr.  Sen 
declared  that  he  had  consented  to  the  marriage  in 
consequence  of  an  express  intimation  that  such  was 
the  will  of  heaven.  Mr.  Sen  denied  miracles,  but 
believed  in  inspiration  ;  and  of  his  own  inspiration 
he  seems  to  have  entertained  no  doubt.  We  thus 
obtain  a  glimpse  into  the  peculiar  working  of  his 
mind.  Every  full  conviction,  every  strong  wish  of 
his  own  he  ascribed  to  divine  suggestion.  This  put 
him  in  a  position  of  extreme  peril.  It  was  clear 
that  an  enthusiastic,  imaginative,  self-reliant  nature 
like  his  might  thus  be  borne  on  to  any  extent  of 
fanaticism. 

A  great  revolt  from  Mr.  Sen's  authority  now  took 
place,  and   the  Sadharan  Samaj  was    or-  Revolt.athird 
ganized   in  May,  18T8.     An   appeal   had  Sama3'' 
been  made  to  the  members  generally,  and  no  fewer 
than  twenty-one  provincial  Samajes,  with  more  than 


74  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

four  hundred  members,  male  and  female,  joined  the 
new  society.  This  number  amounted  to  about  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  body.  Keshub  and  his  friends  de- 
nounced the  rebels  in  very  bitter  language ;  and  yet, 
jn  one  point  of  view,  their  secession  was  a  relief. 
Men  of  abilities  equal,  and  education  superior,  to  his 
own  had  hitherto  acted  as  a  drag  on  his  movements  ; 
he  was  now  delivered  from  their  interference  and 
could  deal  with  the  admiring  and  submissive  remnant 
as  he  pleased.  Ideas  that  had  been  working  in  his 
mind  now  attained  rapid  development.  Within  two 
"New  Dis  n  vears  ^ne  ^g  °^  the  "New  Dispensa- 
tion "  was  raised  ;  and  of  that  dispensa- 
tion Mr.  Sen  was  the  undoubted  head.  Very  daring 
was  the  language  Mr.  Sen  used  in  a  public  lecture 
regarding  this  new  creation.  He  claimed  equality 
for  it  with  the  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensations, 
and  for  himself  "singular"  authority  and  a  divine 
commission. 

In  the  Creed  of  the  New  Dispensation 
the  name  of  Christ  does  not  occur.     The 
articles  were  as  follows : 

a.  One  God,  one  Scripture,  one  Church.  6.  Eternal  progress  of 
the  soul.  c.  Communion  of  prophets  and  saints,  d.  Fatherhood  and 
motherhood  of  God.  e.  Brotherhood  of  man  and  sisterhood  of  woman. 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.       75 

f.  Harmony  of  knowledge  and  holiness,  love  ;ind  work,  yoga  and  as- 
ceticism in  their  highest  development.     <j.  Loyalty  to  sovereign. 

The  omission  of  Christ's  name  is  the  more  remark- 
able because  Mr.  Sen  spoke  much  of  him  omission  of 
in  his  public  lectures.  He  had  said  in  Christ>s  narae- 
May,  1879,  "  None  but  Jesus,  none  but  Jesus,  none 
but  Jesus  ever  deserved  this  precious  diadem,  India  ; 
and  Jesus  shall  have  it."  But  he  clearly  indicated 
that  the  Christ  he  sought  was  an  Indian  Christ ;  one 
who  was  "  a  Hindu  in  faith,"  and  who  would  help 
the  Hindus  to  "  realize  their  national  idea  of  a  yogi  " 
(ascetic). 

Let  it  be  noted  that,  from  the  beginning  of  his 
career,  Mr.  Sen  had  spoken  earnestly  of  the  father- 
hood of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man — though 
these  great  conceptions  are  not  of  Hindu  origin.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  why,  in  later  days,  he  insisted  so 
much  on  the  "  motherhood  of  God." 
Perhaps  it  was  a  repetition — he  probably 
would  have  called  it  an  exaltation — of  the  old  Hindu 
idea,  prevalent  especially  among  the  worshipers  of 
Siva,  that  there  is  a  female  counterpart — a  Sakti — of 
every  divinity.  Or,  possibly,  it  may  have  been  to 
conciliate  the  worshipers  of  Durga  and  Kali,  those 
great  goddesses  of  Bengal. 


"  Motherhood 
of  God." 


76  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

A  public  proclamation  was  soon  issued,  purporting 
Public  procia-  to  be  from  God  himself,  as  India's  mother. 

mation  said  to 

be  from  God.  Hie  whole  thing  was  very  startling  ;  many. 
even  of  Keshub's  friends,  declared  it  blasphemous. 
Next,  in  the  "  Flag  Ceremony,"  the  flag  or  banner 
of  the  New  Dispensation  received  a  homage  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  worship.  Then — as  if  in  strict 
imitation  of  the  ancient  adoration  of  Agni,  or  Fire — 
a  pile  of  wood  was  lighted,  clarified  butter  poured  on 
it,  and  prayers  addressed  to  it,  ending  thus — "  O,  brill- 
iant Fire !  in  thee  we  behold  our  resplendent  Lord." 
This  was,  at  least,  symbolism  run  wild ;  and  every 
one,  except  those  who  were  prepared  to  follow  their 
leader  to  all  lengths,  saw  that  in  a  land  like  India, 
wedded  to  idolatry,  it  was  fearfully  perilous. 

In  March,  1881,  Mr.  Sen  and  his  friends  introduced 
celebrations  which,  to  Christian  minds,  seemed  a  dis- 
tressing caricature  of  the  Christian  sacraments.  Other 
"A  ostoiic  institutions  followed  ;  an  Apostolic  Dur- 
bar (Court  of  Apostles),  for  instance,  was 
established.  There  was  no  end  to  Mr.  Sen's  invent- 
iveness. 

In  a  public  lecture  delivered  in  January,  1883,  on 
"  Asia's  message  to  Europe,"  he  elaborately  expounded 
the  idea  that  all  the  great  religions  are  of  Asiatic 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.        77 

origin,  and  that  all  of  them  are  true,  arid  that  the 
one  thing  required  to  constitute  the  faith  of  the  fut- 
ure— the  religion  of  humanity — is  the  blending  of 
all  these  varied  Oriental  systems  into  one. 

It  was  not  easy  to  reconcile  Mr.  Sen's  public  utter- 
ances with  his  private  ones — though  far  inconsistencies 

between      Mr. 

be  it  from  us  to  tax  him  with  insincerity,   sen's     public 

and  private  ut- 

Thus,  in  an  interview  extending  over  two 


hours,  which  the  writer  and  two  missionary  friends 
had  with  him  a  week  or  so  before  the  lecture  now  re- 
ferred to,  he  said  he  accepted  as  true  and  vital  all 
the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith,  with 
the  exception  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  But 
another  fundamental  difference  remained — he  avow- 
edly dissented  from  the  orthodox  creed  in  rejecting 
the  miraculous  element  in  Scripture.  At  an  inter- 
view I  had  with  him  some  time  before  he  earnestly 
disclaimed  all  intention  to  put  Christ  on  a  level  with 
Buddha  or  Mohammed.  "  I  am  educating  my  friends," 
he  said,  "to  understand  and  approve  of  Christianity  ; 
I  have  not  yet  said  my  last  word  about  Christ."  It 
is  a  solemn  question,  Had  he  said  it  when  his  career 
was  ended?  If  so,  it  was  far  from  a  satis-  Mr  Sen'Spollcy 
factory  word.  His  policy  of  reserve  and  of  reserve- 
adaptation  had  probably  kept  him  from  uttering  all  that 


78  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

was  in  his  heart ;  but  it  was  a  sorely  mistaken  policy. 
Had  he  temporized  less  he  would  have  accomplished 
more. 

Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Sen  there  has  been  a  violent 
dispute  between  his  family  and  the  "Apostolic  Dur- 
bar," on  one  side,  and  one  of  his  ablest  followers,  on 
the  other ;  and  the  New  Dispensation  will  probably 
split  in  two,  if  it  does  not  perish  altogether. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Sadharan  Samaj,  which  broke 
•me  sadharan  °^  fro*m  Keslmb's  party  in  1878,  has  been 
going  on  with  no  small  vigor.  Vagaries, 
either  in  doctrine  or  rites,  have  been  carefully 
shunned ;  its  partisans  profess  a  pure  Theistic  creed 
and  labor  diligently  in  tile  cause  of  social  reform. 
Their  position  is  nearly  that  of  Unitarian  Christian- 
ity, and  we  fear  they  are  not  at  present  approxi- 
mating to  the  full  belief  of  the  Church  Catholic. 
Movements  in  "Very  similar  in  character  to  the  Brah- 

western  India.    mQ     gomaj     Jg     the     prartllana     gomaj     in 

western  India.  As  far  back  as  1850,  or  a  little  ear- 
Tenets  of  the  lier,  there  was  formed  a  society  called  the 

Prarthana 

sabha.  Prarthana   Sabha    (Prayer-meeting).      Its 

leading  tenets  were  as  follows : 

1.  I  believe  in  one  God.  2. 1  renounce  idol- worship.  3.  I  will  do  my 
best  to  lead  a  moral  life.  4.  If  I  commit  any  sin  through  the  weak- 
ness of  my  moral  nature  I  will  repent  of  it  arid  ask  the  pardon  of  God. 


HINDUISM  IN  CONTACT  WITH  CHRISTIANITY.        79 

The  society,  after  some  time,  began  to  languish ; 
but  in  1867  it  was  revived  under  the  name  of  Prarth- 
ana  Somaj.  Its  chief  branches  are  in  Bombay,  Poona, 
Ahmedabad,  and  Surat. 

An  interesting  movement  called  the  Arya  Samaj 
was  commenced  a  few  years  ago  by  a 
Pandit — Dayanand  Sarasvati.  He  re- 
ceived the  Vedas  as  fully  inspired,  but  maintained 
that  they  taught  monotheism — Agni,  Indra,  and  all 
the  rest  being  merely  different  names  of  God.  It 
was  a  desperate  effort  to  save  the  reputation  of  the 
ancient  books ;  but,  as  all  Sanskrit  scholars  saw  at  a 
glance,  the  whole  idea  was  a  delusion.  The  Pandit 
is  now  dead;  and  the  Arya  Samaj  may  not  long 
survive  him. 

At  the  time  we  write  we  hear  of  an  attempt 
to  defend  idolatry  and  caste  made  by  men  of  consider- 
able education. 

The    so-called   "  Theosophists "  have,    for  several 
years,  been  active  in  India.     Of  existing 
religions,  Buddhism  is  their  natural  ally. 
They  are  atheists.  A  combination  which  they  formed 
with  the  Arya  Samaj  speedily  came  to  an  end. 

Lastly,  the  followers  of  Mr.  Bradlungh  are  diligent 

in  supplying  their  books  to  Indian  students. 
6 


80  THE  HINDU  RELIGION. 

Poor  India !  No  wonder  if  her  mind  is  bewildered 
as  she  listens  to  such  a  Babel  of  voices.  The  state  of 
things  in  India  now  strikingly  resembles  that  which 
existed  in  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  rise  of  Christian- 
ity ;  when  East  and  West  were  brought  into  the  closest 
contact,  and  a  great  conflict  of  systems  of  thought 
took  place  in  consequence. 

But  even  as  one  hostile  form  of  gnostic  belief  rose 
after  another,  and  rose  only  to  fall — and  as  the  great- 
est and  best-disciplined  foe  of  early  Christianity — the 
later  Platonisui — gave  way  before  the  steady,  irre- 
ristible  march  of  gospel  truth,  so — we  have  every 
reason  to  hope — it  will  be  yet  again.  The  Christian 
feels  his  heart  swell  in  his  breast  as  he  thinks  what, 
in  all  human  probability,  India  will  be  a  century, 
or  even  half  a  century,  honce.  O  what  a  new  life 
to  that  fairest  of  Eastern  lands  when  she  casts  herself 
in  sorrow  and  supplication  at  the  feet  of  the  living 
God,  and  then  rises  to  proclaim  to  a  listening  world 

"  Her  deep  repentance  and  her  new-found  joy!  " 
May  God  hasten  the  advent  of  that  happy  day  ! 


THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 


OUTLINE   OF   THE    ESSAY. 


THE  progress  of  Islam  was  slow  until  Mohammed 
cast  aside  the  precepts  of  toleration  and  adopted  an 
aggressive,  militant  policy.  Then  it  became  rapid. 
The  motives  which  animated  the  armies  of  Islam 
were  mixed — material  and  spiritual.  Without  the 
truths  contained  in  the  system  success  would  have 
been  impossible,  but  neither  without  the  sword  would 
the  religion  have  been  planted  in  Arabia,  nor  beyond. 
The  alternatives  offered  to  conquered  peoples  were  Is- 
lam, the  sword,  or  tribute.  The  drawbacks  and  at- 
tractions of  the  system  are  examined.  The  former 
were  not  such  as  to  deter  men  of  the  world  from 
embracing  the  faith.  The  sexual  indulgences  sanc- 
tioned by  it  are  such  as  to  make  Islam  "  the  Easy 
way." 

The  spread  of  Islam  was  stayed  whenever  military 
success  was  checked.  The  Faith  was  meant  for  Ara- 
bia and  not  for  the  world,  hence  it  is  constitutionally 
incapable  of  change  or  development.  The  degrada- 


84  OUTLINE  OF  THE  ESSA  T. 

tion  of  woman  hinders  the  growth  of  freedom  and 
civilization  under  it. 

Christianity  is  contrasted  in  the  means  used  for  its 
propagation,  the  methods  it  employed  in  grappling 
with  and  overcoming  the  evils  that  it  found  existing 
in  the  world,  in  the  relations  it  established  between 
the  sexes,  in  its  teaching  with  regard  to  the  respect- 
ive duties  of  the  civil  and  spiritual  powers,  and, 
above  all,  in  its  redeeming  character,  and  then  the 
conclusion  come  to  that  Christianity  is  divine  in  its 
origin. 


THE 

RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 


INTRODUCTION. 

AMONG  the  religions  of  the  earth  Islam  must  take 
the  precedence  in  the  rapidity  and  force  isiam  pre-emi- 
with  which  it  spread.  Within  a  very  short  rapid  spread. 
time  from  its  planting  in  Arabia  the  new  faith  had 
subdued  great  and  populous  provinces.  In  half  a 
dozen  years,  counting  from  the  death  of  the  founder, 
the  religion  prevailed  throughout  Arabia,  Syria,  Per- 
sia, and  Egypt,  and  before  the  close  of  the  century 
it  ruled  supreme  over  the  greater  part  of  the  vast 
populations  from  Gibraltar  to  the  Oxus,  from  the 
Black  Sea  to  the  river  Indus. 

In  comparison  with  this  grand  outburst  the  first 
efforts  of  Christianity  were,  to  the  outward 
eye,  faint  and  feeble,  and  its  extension  so 
gradual  that  what  the  Mohammedan  re-  tlanlty> 
ligion  achieved  in  ten  or  twenty  years  it  took  the  faith 
of  Jesus  long  centuries  to  accomplish. 


86  THE  PISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

The  object  of  these  few  pages  is,  first,  to  inquire 
briefly  into  the  causes  which  led  to  the  marvelous 
object  of  the  *apidity  of  the  first  movement  of  Islam  : 
secondly,  to  consider  the  reasons  which 
eventually  stayed  its  advance ;  and,  lastly,  to  ascer- 
tain why  Mohammedan  countries  have  kept  so  far  in 
the  rear  of  other  lands  in  respect  of  intellectual  and 
social  progress.  In  short,  the  question  is  how  it  was 
that,  Pallas-like,  the  faith  sprang  ready-armed  from 
the  ground,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  and  why, 
the  weapons  dropping  from  its  grasp,  Islam  began  to 
lose  its  pristine  vigor,  and  finally  relapsed  into  in- 
activity. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  87 


I. 

THE  RAPID   SPREAD   OP  ISLAM. 

THE  personal  ministry  of  Mohammed  divides  itself 
into  two  distinct  periods :   first,  Ins  life  TWO  periods  in 

the  mission  of 

at  Mecca  as  a  preacher  and  a  prophet;  Mohammed, 
second,  his  life  at  Medina  as  a  prophet  and  a  king. 

It  is  only  in  the  first  of  these  periods  that  Islam  at 
all  runs  parallel  with  Christianity.     The  i.  Ministry  at 

Mecca,    A.  D. 

great  body  of  his  fellow-citizens  rejected  60&-&J2. 
the  ministry  of  Mohammed  and  bitterly  opposed  his 
claims.  His  efforts  at  Mecca  were,  therefore,  con- 
fined to  teaching  and  preaching  and  to  the  publishing 
of  the  earlier  "  Suras,"  or  chapters  of  his  "  Revela- 
tion." After  some  thirteen  years  spent  thus  his  con- 
verts, to  the  number  of  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
men  and  women,  were  forced  by  the  persecution  of 
the  Coreish  (the  ruling  tribe  at  Mecca,  from  which 
Mohammed  was  descended)  to  quit  their  SuccesgatMec_ 
native  city  and  emigrate  to  Medina.1  A  c*111111**1- 
hundred  more  had  previously  fled  from  Mecca  for 

1  See  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  138.     Smith  &  Elder. 


88  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

the  same  cause,  and  found  refuge  at  the  court  of  the 
Negus,  or  king  of  Abyssinia  ;  and  there  was  already 
a  small  company  of  followers  among  the  citizens  of 
Medina.  At  the  utmost,  therefore,  the  number  of 
disciples  gained  over  by  the  simple  resort  to  Beaching 
and  preaching  did  not,  during  the  first  twelve  years 
of  Mohammed's  ministry,  exceed  a  few  hundreds.  It 
is  true  that  the  soil  of  Mecca  was  stubborn  and  (un- 
like that  of  Judea)  wholly  unprepared.  The  cause 
also,  at  times,  became  the  object  of  sustained  and 
violent  opposition.  Even  so  much  of  success  w-as 
consequently,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances,  re- 
markable. But  it  was  by  no  means  singular.  The 
progress  fell  far  short  of  that  made  by  Christianity 
during  the  corresponding  period  of  its  existence,1  and 
indeed  by  many  reformers  who  have  been  the  preach- 
ers of  a  new  faith.  It  gave  no  promise  whatever  of 
the  marvelous  spectacle  that  was  about  to  follow. 

Having  escaped  from  Mecca  and  found  a  new  and 
ii  Chan  e  of  congenial  home  in  Medina,  Mohammed 
mn£yA.aD.  622-  was  not  l°ng  in  changing  his  front.  At 
Mecca,  surrounded  by  enemies,  lie  taught 
toleration.  He  was  simply  the  preacher  commissioned 
to  deliver  a  message,  and  bidden  to  leave  the  respon- 

1  Life  of  Molarnmfd,  p.  172,  where  the  results  are  compared. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  89 

sibility  with  his  Master  and  his  hearers.     He  might 

argue  with  the  disputants,  but  it  must  be  Arabia   con- 
verted    from 
"  in  a  way  most  mild  and  gracious  : "  for  Medina  at  the 

point    of    the 

"  in  religion  "  (such  was  his  teaching  be-  sword, 
fore  he  reached  Medina)  "  there  should  be  neither 
violence  nor  constraint."  '  At  Medina  the  precepts 
of  toleration  were  quickly  cast  aside  and  his  whole 
policy  reversed.  No  sooner  did  Mohammed  begin  to 
be  recognized  and  obeyed  as  the  chief  of  Medina 
than  he  proceeded  to  attack  the  Jewish  tribes  settled 
in  the  neighborhood  because  they  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge his  claims  and  believe  in  him  as  a  prophet  fore- 
told in  their  Scriptures  ;  two  of  these  tribes  were  ex- 
iled, and  the  third  exterminated  in  cold 

A.  D.  6B3. 

blood.   In  the  second  year  after  the  Hegira, 
or  flight  from  Mecca  (the  period  from  which  the  Mo- 
hammedan era  dates),  he  began  to  plunder  the  cara- 
vans of  the  Coreish,  which  passed  near  to  Medina  on 
their  mercantile  journeys  between  Arabia  and  Syria. 
So  popular  did   the  cause  of  the  now  militant  and 
marauding  prophet  speedily  become  among  the  citi- 
zens of   Medina   and   the    tribes   around         A  D  eao 
that,  after  many  battles  fought  with  vary- 
ing success,  he  was  able,  in  the  eighth  year  of  the 

J  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  341 ;  Sura  ii,  257  ;  xxix,  46. 


90  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

Hegiia  to  re-enter  his  native  city  at  the  head  of  ten 

thousand  armed  followers.      Thenceforward  success 

was  assured.     None  dared  to  oppose  his 

pretensions.     And  before  his  death,  in  the 

eleventh  year  of  the  Hegira,  all  Arabia,  from  Bab-el- 

Mandeb  and  Oman  to  the  confines  of  the  Syrian  des- 

ert, was  forced  to  submit  to  the  supreme  authority  of 

the  now  kingly  prophet  and  to  recognize  the  faith 

and  obligations  of  Islam.1 

This  Islam,  so  called  from  its  demanding  the  en- 
tire  "surrender"  of  the  believer  to  the 


hammed  de- 

scribed. will  and  service  of  God,  is  based  on  the 

recognition  of  Mohammed  as  a  prophet  foretold  in 
the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  —  the  last  and 
greatest  of  the  prophets.  On  him  descended  the 
Koran  from  time  to  time,  an  immediate  revelation 
from  the  Almighty.  Idolatry  and  polytheism  are 
with  iconoclastic  zeal  denounced  as  sins  of  the  deepest 
dye  ;  while  the  unity  of  the  Deity  is  proclaimed  as 
the  grand  and  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  faith.  Divine 

1  The  only  exceptions  were  the  Jews  of  Kheibar  and  the  Christians 
of  Najran,  who  were  permitted  to  continue  in  the  profession  of  their 
faith.  They  were,  however,  forced  by  Omar  to  quit  the  peninsula, 
which  thenceforward  remained  exclusively  Mohammedan. 

"  Islam  "  is  a  synonym  for  the  Mussulman  faith.  Its  original 
meaning  is  "  surrender  "  of  one's  self  to  God. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  91 

providence  pervades  the  minutest  concerns  of  life,  and 
predestination  is  taught  in  its  most  naked  form.  Yet 
prayer  is  enjoined  as  both  meritorious  and  effective  ; 
and  at  five  stated  times  every  day  must  it  be  specially 
performed.  The  duties  generally  of  the  moral  law  are 
enforced,  though  an  evil  laxity  is  given  in  the  matter 
of  polygamy  and  divorce.  Tithes  are  demanded  as 
alms  for  the  poor.  A  fast  during  the  month  of  Ram- 
zan  must  be  kept  throughout  the  whole  of  every  day ; 
and  the  yearly  pilgrimage  to  Mecca — an  ancient  insti- 
tution, the  rites  of  which  were  now  divested  of  their 
heathenish  accompaniments — maintained.  The  exist- 
ence of  angels  and  devils  is  taught,  and  heaven  and  hell 
are  depicted  in  material  colors — the  one  of  sensuous 
pleasure,  the  other  of  bodily  torment.  Finally,  the 
resurrection,  judgment,  and  retribution  of  good  and 
evil  are  set  forth  in  great  detail.  Such  was  the  creed 
— "  There  is  no  god  but  the  LORD,  and  MOHAMMED  is 
his  prophet" — to  which  Arabia  now  became  obedient. 
But  immediately  on  the  death  of  Mohammed  the 
entire  peninsula  relapsed  into  apostasy.  Arabja  aposta. 
Medina  and  Mecca  remained  faithful ;  but 
every- where  else  the  land  seethed  with 
rebellion.  Some  tribes  joined  the  "  false  &33' 
prophets,"  of  whom  four  had  arisen  in  different  partr- 


92  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

of  Arabia ;  some  relapsed  into  their  ancient  heathen- 
ism ;  while  others  proposed  a  compromise — they 
would  observe  the  stated  times  of  prayer,  but  would 
be  excused  the  tithe.  Every-where  was  rampant  an- 
archy. The  apostate  tribes  attacked  Medina,  but  were 
repulsed  by  the  brave  old  Caliph  Abu  Bukr,  who  re- 
fused to  abate  one  jot  or  tittle,  as  the  successor  of 
Mohammed,  of  the  obligations  of  Islam.  Eleven  col- 
umns were  sent  forth  under  as  many  leaders,  trained 
in  the  warlike  school  of  Mohammed.  These  fought 
their  way,  step  by  step,  successfully  ;  and  thus,  main- 
ly through  the  wisdom  and  firmness  of  Abu  Bekr 
and  the  valor  and  genius  of  Khalid,  "  the  Sword  of 
God,"  the  Arab  tribes,  one  by  one,  were  overcome 
and  forced  back  into  their  allegiance  and  the  profes- 
sion of  Islam.  The  reconquest  of  Arabia  and  re- 
imposition  of  Mohammedanism  as  the  national  faith, 
which  it  took  a  whole  year  to  accomplish,  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  an  Arabian  author,  who  wrote  at  the  close 
of  the  second  century  of  the  Mohammedan  era  : 

After  his  decease  there  remained  not  one  of  the  followers  of  the 
prophet  that  did  uot  apostatize,  saving  only  a  small  company  of  his 
"Companions"  and  kinsfolk,  who  hoped  thus  to  secure  the  govern- 
ment to  themselves.  Hereupon  Abu  Bekr  displayed  marvelous  skill, 
energy,  and  address,  so  that  the  power  passed  into  his  hands.  .  .  . 
And  thus  he  persevered  until  the  apostate  tribes  were  all  brought 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  93 

back  to  their  allegiance,  some  by  kindly  treatment,  persuasion,  and 
craft;  some  through  terror  and  fear  of  the  sword;  and  others  by  the 
prospect  of  power  and  wealth  as  well  as  by  the  lusts  and  pleasures  of 
this  life.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  all  the  Bedouin  tribes  were  in 
the  end  converted  outwardly,  but  not  from  inward  conviction.1 

The  temper  of  the  tribes  thus  reclaimed  by  force 
of  arms  was  at  the  first  strained  and  sul-  The  Arabs  thus 
len.  But  the  scene  soon  changed.  Slid-  "Ve'luTttiJ 
denly  the  whole  peninsula  was  shaken,  flrst)  sullen- 
and  the  people,  seized  with  a  burning  zeal,  issued 
forth  to  plant  the  new  faith  in  other  lands.  It  hap- 
pened on  this  wise : 

The   columns   sent  from   Medina   to    reduce    the 
rebellious    tribes    to    the    north-west    on 

Roused  by  war- 

the    Gulf    of    Ayla,    and    to   the    north-  cry,  they  issue 

^i        r>  si    M!  from  the  pe- 

east  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  came  at  once  ninsuia,  A.  D. 
into  collision  with  the  Christian  Bedouins 
of  Syria  on  the  one  hand  and  with  those  of  Meso- 
potamia on  the   other.     These  again  were   immedi- 
ately supported  by  the  neighboring  forces  The  0   osln 
of  the  Roman  and  Persian  empires,  whose  forces- 
vassals  respectively  they  were.     And  so,  before  many 
months,  Abu  Bekr  found   his   generals  opposed  by 
great  and  imposing  armies  on  either  side.     He  was, 

1  Apology  of  Al  Kindy,  the  Christian,  p.  18.     Smith  &  Elder,  1882, 
This  remarkable  apologist  will  be  noticed  further  below. 


94  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

in  fact,  waging  mortal  combat  at  one  and  the  same 
moment  with  the  Kaiser  and  the  Chosroes,  the 
Byzantine  emperor  and  the  great  king  of  Persia. 
The  risk  was  imminent,  and  an  appeal  went  forth 
for  help  to  meet  the  danger.  The  battle-cry  re- 
sounded from  one  end  of  Arabia  to  the  other,  and 
Arabenthusi-  electrified  the  land.  Levy  after  levy, 
en  masse )  started  up  at  the  call  from 
every  quarter  of  the  peninsula,  and  the  Bedouin 
tribes,  as  bees  from  their  hive,  streamed  forth  in 
swarms,  animated  by  the  prospect  of  conquest, 
plunder,  and  captive  damsels,  or,  if  slain  in  bat- 
tle, by  the  still  more  coveted  prize  of  the  "  mar- 
tyr" in  the  material  paradise  of  Mohammed.  With 
a  military  ardor  and  new-born  zeal  in  which 
carnal  and  spiritual  aspirations  were  strangely  blend- 
ed, the  Arabs  rushed  forth  to  the  field,  like  the 
war-horse  of  Job,  "  that  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off, 
the  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the  shouting." 
Sullen  constraint  was  in  a  moment  transformed  into 
an  absolute  devotion  and  fiery  resolve  to  spread  the 
faith.  The  Arab  warrior  became  the  missionary  of 
Islam. 

It  was  now  the  care  of  Omar,  the  second  caliph  or 
ruler  of  the  new-born  empire,  to  establish  a  system 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  95 

whereby  the  spirit  militant,  called  into  existence 
with  such  force  and  fervor,  might  be  rendered  per- 
manent. The  entire  Arabian  people  was 

•..-,.        -,         rill  i  1*1      A  nibs,  a  mill- 

subsidized.     The  surplus  revenues  which  tary  body,  sub- 

.  ,,  .  .  sidlzed  and 

in  rapidly  increasing  volume  began  to  mobilized  by 
.flow  from  the  conquered  lands  into  the 
Moslem  treasuries  were  to  the  last  farthing  distrib- 
uted among  the  soldiers  of  Arabian  descent.  The 
whole  nation  was  enrolled,  and  the  name  of  every 
warrior  entered  upon  the  roster  of  Islam.  Forbidden 
to  settle  anywhere,  and  relieved  from  all  other  work, 
the  Arab  hordes  became,  in  fact,  a  standing  army 
threatening  the  world.  Great  bodies  of  armed  men 
were  kept  thus  ever  mobilized,  separate  and  in  readi- 
ness for  new  enterprise. 

The  change  which  came  over  the  policy   of   the 
Founder   of    the   Faith   at   Medina,    and 
paved  the  way  for  this  marvelous  system  lam  described 

.  byFairbairn. 

of  world-wide   rapine  and   conversion  to 

Islam,  is  thus  described  by  a  thoughtful  and  sagacious 

writer : 

Medina  was  fatal  to  the  higher  capabilities  of  Islam.  Mohammed 
became  then  a  king;  his  religion  was  incorporated  in  a  State  that  had 
to  struggle  for  its  life  in  the  fashion  familiar  to  the  rough-handed  sons 
of  the  desert.  The  prophet  was  turned  into  the  legislator  arid  com- 

7 


96  TEE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM 

mander;  his  revelations  were  now  laws,  and  now  military  orders 
and  manifestoes.  The  mission  of  Islam  became  one  that  only  the 
sword  could  accomplish,  robbery  of  the  infidel  became  meritorious, 
and  conquest  the  supreme  duty  it  owed  to  the  world.  .  .  . 

The  religion  which  lived  an  unprospering  and  precarious  life,  so 
long  as  it  depended  on  the  prophetic  word  alone,  became  an  aggress- 
ive and  victorious  power  so  soon  as  it  was  embodied  in  a  State.1 

And  by  von  Another  learned  and  impartial  author- 
Kremer-  ity  tells  ns: 

The  Mussulman  power  under  the  first  four  caliphs  was  nothing  but 
a  grand  religio-political  association  of  Arab  tribes  for  universal 
plunder  and  conquest  under  the  holy  banner  of  Islam,  and  the  watch- 
word, "  There  is  no  god  but  THE  LORD,  and  MolAmmed  is  his  apostle." 
On  pretext  of  spreading  the  only  true  religion  the  Arabs  swallowed 
up  fair  provinces  lying  all  around,  and,  driving  a  profitable  business, 
enriched  themselves  simultaneously  in  a  worldly  sense.8 

The  motives  which  nerved  the  armies  of  Islam 
Religious  mer-  were  a  strange  combination  of  the  lower 
infhe'wlysrf  instincts  of  nature  with  the  higher  aspira- 
tions of  the  spirit.  To  engage  in  the 
Holy  War  was  the  rarest  and  most  blessed  of  all 
religious  virtues,  and  conferred  on  the  combatant  a 
special  merit ;  and  side  by  side  with  it  lay  the  bright 
prospect  of  spoil  and  female  slaves,  conquest  and 

1  Principal  Fairbairn:  "The  Primitive  Polity  of  Islam,"  Contempo- 
rary Revieiv,  December,  1882,  pp.  866,  867. 

*  Herr  von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichle  des  Orients,  unter  den  Chalifen, 
vol.  i,  p.  383. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  97 

glory.  "  Mount  thy  horse,"  said  Osama  ibn  Zeid  to 
Abu  Bekr  as  he  accompanied  the  Syrian  army  a  little 
way  on  its  inarch  out  of  Medina.  "Nay,"  replied 
the  caliph,  "I  will  not  ride,  but  I  will  walk  and  soil 
my  feet  a  little  space  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord. 
Verily,  every  footstep  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord  is 
equal  in  merit  to  manifold  good  works,  and  wipeth 
away  a  multitude  of  sins."  *  And  of  the  "  martyrs," 
those  who  fell  in  these  crusading  campaigns,  Moham- 
med thus  described  the  blessed  state : 

Think  not,  in  any  wise,  of  those  killed  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  as 
if  they  were  dead.  Yea,  they  are  alive,  and  are  nourished  with  their 
Lord,  exulting  in  that  which  God  hath  given  them  of  his  favor,  and 
rejoicing  in  behalf  of  those  who  have  not  yet  joined  them,  but  are 
following  after.  No  terror  afflicteth  them,  neither  are  they  grieved. 
— Sura  iii. 

The  material  fruits  of  their  victories  raised  the 
Arabs  at  once  from  being  the  needy  in-  Material  fruits 

of  Moslem  cru- 

habitants  of  a  stony,  sterile  soil,  where,  "a*16- 
with  difficulty,  they  eked  out  a  hardy  subsistence,  to 
be  the  masters  of  rich  and  luxuriant  lands  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey.  After  one  of  his  great  vic- 
tories on  the  plains  of  Chaldea,  Khalid  called  to- 
gether his  troops,  flushed  with  conquest,  and  lost  in 
wonder  at  the  exuberance  around  them,  and  thus 
1  Annals  of  the  Early  Caliphate,  p.  9.  Smith  &  Elder,  1883. 


98  THE  RISE  ANJ)  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

addressed  them  :  "Ye  see  the  riches  of  the  land.  Its 
paths  drop  fatness  and  plenty,  so  that  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  are  scattered  abroad  even  as  stones  are 
in  Arabia.  If  but  as  a  provision  for  this  present  life, 
it  were  worth  our  while  to  fight  for  these  fair  fields 
and  banish  care  and  penury  forever  from  us."  Such 
were  the  aspirations  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  Arab 
warrior.  Again,  after  the  battle  of  Jalola,  a  few  years 
later,  the  treasure  and  spoil  of  the  Persian  monarch, 
captured  by  the  victors,  was  valued  at  thirty  million 
of  dirhems  (about  a  million  sterling).  The  royal 
fifth  (the  crown  share  of  the  booty)  was  sent  as  usual 
to  Medina  under  charge  of  Ziad,  who,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Caliph  Omar,  harangued  the  citizens  in  a 
glowing  description  of  what  had  been  won  in  Persia, 
fertile  lands,  rich  cities,  and  endless  spoil,  besides 
captive  maids  and  princesses. 

In   relating   the   capture   of   Medain  (the  ancient 

Ctesiphon)    tradition    revels    in    the    untold    wealth 

which  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sad,  the  con- 

nich    booty 

^JMrfito!  queror,  and  his  followers.  Besides  mill- 
sia,  A.  D.  637.  .Qng  QJ.  j-reasurej  there  was  endless  store  of 
gold  and  silver  vessels,  rich  vestments,  and  rare  and 
precious  things.  The  Arabs  gazed  bewildered  at  the 
tiara,  brocaded  vestments,  jeweled  armor,  and  splen- 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  TSLAM.  99 

did  surroundings  of  the  throne.  They  tell  of  a 
camel  of  silver,  life-size,  with  a  rider  of  gold,  and  of 
a  golden  horse  with  emeralds  for  teeth,  the  neck  set 
with  rubies,  the  trappings  of  gold.  And  we  may 
read  in  Gibbon  of  the  marvelous  banqueting  carpet, 
representing  a  garden,  the  ground  of  wrought  gold, 
the  walks  of  silver,  the  meadows  of  emeralds,  rivulets 
of  pearls,  and  flowers  and  fruits  of  diamonds,  rubies, 
and  rare  gems.  The  precious  metals  lost  their  con- 
ventional value,  gold  was  parted  with  for  its  weight 
in  silver;  and  so  on.1 

It  is  the  virtue  of  Islam  that  it  recognizes  a  special 

providence,  seeing  the  hand  of  God,  as  in  success  in  bat- 
tie  ascribed  to 
every  thing,  so  pre-eminently  also  in  vie-  divine  aid. 

tory.  When  Sad,  therefore,  had  established  him- 
self in  the  palace  of  the  Chosroes  he  was  not  forget- 
ful to  render  thanks  in  a  service  of  praise.  One  of 
the  princely  mansions  was  turned  for  the  moment 
into  a  temple,  and  there,  followed  by  his  troops,  he 
ascribed  the  victory  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The  lesson 
accompanying  the  prayers  was  taken  from  a  Sura 
(or  chapter  of  the  Koran)  which  speaks  of  Pharaoh 
and  his  riders  being  overwhelmed  in  the  Red  Sea, 

1  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  chapter  li,  and  Annals  of  the  Early 
Caliphate,  p.  184. 


100  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

and  contains  this  passage,  held  to  be  peculiarly  appro- 
priate to  the  occasion  : 

"  How  many  gardens  and  fountains  did  they  leave  behind, 

And  fields  of  corn,  and  fair  dwelling-places, 
And  pleasant  things  which  they  enjoyed  I 

Even  thus  have  WE  made  another  people  to  inherit  the  same."  ' 

Snch  as  fell  in  the  conflict  were  called  martyrs  ;  a 
"  Mart  dom  "  halo  °^  8^O1T  surrounded  them,  and  spe- 


cial  Jov8  awaited  them  even  on  the  battle- 

crusaders.  ^^       ^^    &Q    ^   came   ^    pagg    ^  ^ 

warriors  of  Islam  had  an  unearthly  longing  for  the 
crown  of  martyrdom.  The  Caliph  Omar  was  incon- 
solable at  the  loss  of  his  brother,  Zeid,  who  fell  in  the 
fatal  "  Garden  of  Death,"  at  the  battle  of  Yemama  : 
"  Thou  art  returned  home,"  he  said  to  his  son,  Ab- 
dallah,  "  safe  and  sound,  and  Zeid  is  dead.  Where- 
fore wast  not  thou  slain  before  him  ?  I  wish  not  to 
see  thy  face."  "Father,"  answered  Abdallah,  "he 
The  Moslem  asked  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  and 

crown  of  mar- 

tyrdom. the  Lord  granted  it.     I  strove  after  the 

same,  but  it  was  not  given  unto  me."  *  It  was  the 
proud  boast  of  the  Saracens  in  their  summons  to  the 
craven  Greeks  and  Persians  that  "  they  loved  death 
more  than  their  foes  loved  life."  Familiar  with  the 

1  Ibid.  ;  and  Sura  xliv,  v.  25.     We—  that  is,  the  Lord. 
»  Annals  of  the  Early  Caliphate,  p.  46. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  101 

pictures  drawn  in  the  Koran  of  the  beautiful  "  hour- 
ies  "  of  Paradise,1  the  Saracens  believed  that  imme- 
diate fruition  on  the  field  of  battle  was  the  martyr's 
special  prize.  We  are  told  of  a  Moslem  soldier,  four- 
score years  of  age,  who,  seeing  a  comrade  fall  by  his 
side,  cried  out,  "  O  Paradise  !  how  close  art  thou  be- 
neath the  arrow's  point  and  the  falchion's  flash !  O 
Hashim !  even  now  I  see  heaven  opened,  and  black- 
eyed  maidens  all  bridally  attired,  clasping  thee  in  their 
fond  embrace."  And  shouting  thus  the  aged  warrior, 
fired  again  with  the  ardor  of  youth,  rushed  upon 
the  enemy  and  met  the  envied  fate.  For  those  who 
survived  there  was  the  less  ethereal  but  closer  pros- 
pect of  Persian,  Greek,  or  Coptic  women,  both  maids 
and  matrons,  who,  on  "  being  taken  captive  by  their 
right  hand,"  were  forthwith,  according  to  the  Koran, 
without  stint  of  number,  at  the  conqueror's  will  and 
pleasure.  These,  immediately  they  were  made  pris- 

1  See,  for  example,  Sura  Ixxviii :  "  Verily  for  the  pious  there  is  a 
blissful  abode :  gardens  and  vineyards;  and  damsels  with  swelling 
bosoms,  of  a  fitting  age ;  and  a  full  cup.  Lovely  large-eyed  girls, 
like  pearls  hidden  in  their  shells,  a  reward  for  that  which  the  faithful 
shall  have  wrought.  Verily  We  have  created  them  of  a  rare  creation, 
virgins,  young  and  fascinating.  .  .  .  Modest  damsels  averting  their 
eyes,  whom  no  man  shall  have  known  before,  nor  any  Jinn,"  etc. 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  materialistic  character 
of  Mohammed's  paradise. 


102  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

oners,  might  (according  to  the  example  of  Mohammed 
himself  at  Kheibar)  be  carried  off  without  further 
ceremony  to  the  victor's  tent ;  and  in  this  respect  the 
Saracens  certainly  were  nothing  loath  to  execute  upon 
the  heathen  the  judgment  written  in  their  law.  So 
strangely  was  religious  fanaticism  fed  and  fostered  in 
the  Moslem  camp  by  incentives  irresistible  to  the 
Arab — fight  and  foray,  the  spoil  of  war  and  captive 
charms. 

The  courage  of  the  troops  was  stimulated  by  the 
divine  promises  of  victory,   which  were 

Martial      pa»-  J ' 

sages  from  KO-  rea(j  (an(j  on  ]{]^Q  occasions  still  are  read) 

ran  recited  on 

flew  of  battle.    a^.  ^}ie  }iea(j  Of  each   column   drawn    up 
for  battle.     Thus,  on  the  field  of  Cadesiya, 

A.  D.  635. 

which  decided  the  fate  of  Persia,  the  Sura 
Jehad,  with  the  stirring  tale  of  the  thousand  angels 
that  fought  on  the  Prophet's  side  at  Bedr  was  recited, 
and  such  texts  as  these  : 

Stir  up  the  faithful  unto  battle.  If  there  be  twenty 
steadfast  among  you  they  shall  put  two  hundred  to 
flight  of  the  unbelievers,  and  a  hundred  shall  put  to 
flight  a  thousand.  Victory  is  from  the  Lord.  He  is 
mighty  and  wise.  I  the  Lord  will  cast  terror  into 
the  hearts  of  the  infldels.  Strike  off  their  heads  and 
their  fingers'  ends.  Beware  lest  ye  turn  your  back  in 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  103 

Verily,  he  that  turneth  his  hack  shall  draw 
down  upon  himself  the  wrath  of  God.  His  abode 
shall  be  hell  fire;  an  evil  journey  thither. 

And  we  are  told  that  on  the  recital  of  these  verses 
"the  heart  of  the  people  was  refreshed  and  their  eyes 
lightened,  and  they  felt  the  tranquillity  that  ensueth 
thereupon."  Three  days  they  fought,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  fourth,  returning  with  unabated  vigor 
to  the  charge,  they  scattered  to  the  winds  the  vast 
host  of  Persia.1 

Nor  was  it  otherwise  in  the  great  battle  of  the 
Yermuk,  which  laid  Syria  at  the  feet  of  JMetltol  Byi5. 
the  Arabs.  The  virgin  vigor  of  the  Sar-  *hf  ne£^ 
acens  was  fired  by  a  wild  fanatical  zeal  A-D>634< 
"  to  fight  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,"  -obtaining  thus 
heavenly  merit  and  a  worldly  prize — the  spoil  of 
Syria  and  its  fair  maidens  ravished  from  their  homes  ; 
or  should  they  fall  by  the  sword,  the  black-eyed  hour- 
ies  waiting  for  them  on  the  field  of  battle.  "Of 
warriors  nerved  by  this  strange  combination  of  earth 
and  heaven,  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit,  of  the  in- 
centives at  once  of  faith  and  rapine,  of  fanatical  devo- 
tion to  the  prophet  and  deathless  passion  for  the  sex, 
ten  might  chase  a  hundred  half-hearted  Romans.  The 

*See  Sura  Jehad-  also  Annals  of  the  Early  Caliphate,  p.  167,  el.  seq. 


104  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

forty  thousand  Moslems  were  stronger  far  than  the 
two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  of  the  enemy."  The 
combat  lasted  for  weeks  ;  but  at  the  last  the  Byzantine 
force  was  utterly  routed,  and  thousands  hurled  in  wild 
confusion  over  the  beetling  cliffs  of  the  Yermuk  into 
the  yawning  chasm  of  Wacusa.1 

Such,  then,  was  the  nature  of  the  Moslem  propa- 
isiam  planted  ganda,  such  the  agency  by  which  the  faith 

by  aid  of  ma-    8  ,    J  ,   J 

teriai  force.  was  spread,  and  such  the  motives  at  once 
material  and  spiritual  by  which  its  martial  missionaries 
were  inspired.  No  wonder  that  the  effete  empires  of 
Rome  and  Persia  recoiled  and  quivered  at  the  shock,  and 
that  province  after  province  quickly  fell  under  the  sway 
of  Islam.  It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  imply  that 
the  truths  set  forth  by  the  new  faith  had  nothing  to 
do  with  its  success.  On  the  contrary,  it  may  well  be 
admitted  that  but  for  those  truths  success  might  have 
been  impossible.  The  grand  enunciation  of  the  Di- 
vine Unity,  and  the  duty  of  an  absolute  submission  to 
the  same ;  the  recognition  of  a  special  providence 
reaching  to  the  minutest  details  of  life ;  the  inculca- 
tion of  prayer  and  other  religious  duties ;  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  code  in  which  the  leading  principles  of 
morality  are  enforced,  and  the  acknowledgment  of 

1  Annals  of  the  Early  CalipJwte,  p.  105,  el.  seq. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  105 

previous  revelations  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
Scriptures,  told  not  only  on  the  idolaters  of  Arabia 
and  the  fire-worshipers  of  Persia,  but  on  Jews  and 
Samaritans  and  the  followers  of  a  debased  and  priest- 
ridden  Christianity.  All  this  is  true  ;  but  it  is  still 
not  the  less  true  that  without  the  sword  Islam  would 
never  have  been  planted  even  in  Arabia,  much  less 
ever  have  spread  to  the  countries  beyond.  The  weap- 
ons of  its  warfare  were  "  carnal,"  material,  and 
earthly  ;  and  by  them  it  conquered. 

The  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  the  inhabitants  of 
the  countries  overrun  by  Saracen  arms  was  of  the 
most  stringent  character.  They  were  of- 

»  Alternatives 

fered  the   triple   alternative—  ISLAM,  the  offered  *}  the 

conquered  na- 

SWORD,  or  TRIBUTE.      The  first  brought  J 


immediate  relief.    Acceptance  of  the  faith  T 
not  only  stayed  the  enemy's  hand,  and  conferred  im- 
munity from  the  perils  of  war,  but  associated  the  con- 
vert with  his  conquerors  in  the  common  brotherhood 
and  in  all  the  privileges  of  Islam. 

Reading  the  story  of  the  spread  of  Islam,  we  are 
constantly  told  of   this  and  that  enemy,  Acce  tence 
that  "being  beaten,  he  Relieved  and  em-  aS/e^rom 
braced  the  faith."     Take  as  an  example  thesword- 
of  an  every-day  occurrence  the  story  of  Hormuzan. 


106  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

A  Persian  prince  of  nigh  rank  long  maintained  a  bor- 
der warfare  against  the  Moslems.  At  last  he  was 
taken  prisoner  and  sent  in  chains  to  Medina.  As  he 
was  conducted  into  the  Great  Mosque,  Omar  ex- 
claimed, "Blessed  be  the  Lord,  that  hath  humbled 
this  man  and  the  like  of  him  ! "  He  bade  them  dis- 
robe the  prisoner  and  clothe  him  in  sackcloth.  Then, 
whip  in  hand,  he  upbraided  him  for  his  oft-repeated 
attacks  and  treachery.  Hormuzan  made  as  if  fain  to 
reply ;  then  gasping,  like  one  faint  from  thirst,  he 
begged  for  water  to  drink.  "  Give  it  him,"  said  the 
caliph,  "  and  let  him  drink  in  peace."  "  Nay,"  cried 
the  wretched  captive,  trembling,  "  I  fear  to  drink, 
lest  some  one  slay  me  unawares."  "  Thy  life  is  safe," 
said  Omar,  "until  thou  hast  drunk  the  water  up." 
The  words  were  no  sooner  said  than  Hormuzan 
emptied  the  vessel  on  the  ground.  "  I  wanted  not 
the  water,"  he  said,  "  but  quarter,  and  thou  hast 
given  it  me."  "  Liar  !  "  cried  Omar,  angrily,  "  thy 
life  is  forfeit."  "  But  not,"  interposed  the  by-stand- 
ers,  "until  he  drink  the  water  up."  "Strange,"  said 
Omar,  "  the  fellow  hath  deceived  me  ;  and  yet  I  can- 
not spare  the  life  of  one  who  hath  slain  so  many  noble 
Moslems.  I  swear  that  thou  shalt  not  gain  by  thy 
deceit  unless  thou  wilt  forthwith  embrace  Islam." 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  107 

Upon  that,  "  believing,  he  made  profession  of  the  true 
faith  upon  the  spot;"  and  thenceforth,  residing  at 
Medina,  he  received  a  pension  of  the  highest  grade.1 

On  the  other  hand,  for  those  who  held  to  their  ::n- 
cestral  faith  there  was  no  escape  from  the  Tribute  and 
second  or  the  third  alternative.  If  they  humlliation- 
would  avoid  the  sword,  or,  having  wielded  it,  were 
beaten,  they  must  become  tributary.  Moreover,  the 
payment  of  tribute  is  not  the  only  condition  enjoined 
by  the  Koran.  "  Fight  against  them  (the  Jews  and 
Christians)  until  they  pay  tribute  with  the  hand,  and 
are  humbled"*  The  command  fell  on  willing  ears. 
An  ample  interpretation  was  given  to  it.  And  so  it 
came  to  pass  that,  though  Jews  and  Christians  were, 
on  the  payment  of  tribute,  tolerated  in  the  profession 
of  their  ancestral  faith,  they  were  yet  subjected  (and 
still  are  subjected)  to  severe  humiliation.  Disabilities im- 

.          posed  on  Jews 

Ihe  nature  and  extent  of  the  degradation  and  Christians, 
to  which  they  were  brought  down,  and  the  strength 
of  the  inducement  to  purchase  exemption  and  the 
equality  of  civil  rights,  by  surrendering  their  religion, 
may  be  learned  from  the  provisions  which  were  em- 
bodied in  the  code  named  The  Ordinance  of  Omar, 
which  has  been  more  or  less  enforced  from  the  earliest 
1  See  Annals,  etc.,  p.  253.  »  Sura  ix,  v.  30. 


108  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

times.  Besides  the  tribute  and  various  other  imposts 
levied  from  the  "  People  of  the  Book," '  arid  the  duty 
of  receiving  Moslem  travelers  quartered  upon  them, 
the  dress  of  both  sexes  must  be  distinguished  by  broad 
stripes  of  yellow.  They  are  forbidden  to  appear  on 
horseback,  and  if  mounted  on  a  mule  or  ass  their 
stirrups  must  be  of  wood,  and  their  saddles  known  by 
knobs  of  the  same  material.  Their  graves  must  not 
rise  above  the  level  of  the  soil,  and  the  devil's  mark 
is  placed  upon  the  lintel  of  their  doors.  Their  chil- 
dren must  be  taught  by  Moslem  masters,  and  the  race, 
however  able  or  well  qualified,  proscribed  from  any 
office  of  high  emolument  ortrust.  Besides  the  churches 
spared  at  the  time  of  conquest  no  new  buildings  can 
be  erected  for  the  purposes  of  worship ;  nor  can  free 
entrance  into  their  holy  places  at  pleasure  be  refused 
to  the  Moslem.  No  cross  must  remain  in  view  out- 
side, nor  any  church-bells  be  rung.  They  must  refrain 
from  processions  in  the  street  at  Easter,  and  other 
solemnities ;  and  from  any  thing,  in  short,  whether  by 
outward  symbol,  word,  or  deed,  which  could  be  con- 
strued into  rivalry,  or  competition  with  the  ruling 
faith.  Such  was  the  so-called  Code  of -Omar.  En- 

1  So  Jews  and  Christians  as  possessing  the  Bible  are  named  in  the 
Koran. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  109 

forced  with  less  or  greater  stringency,  according  to 
the  intolerance  and  caprice  of  the  day,  by  different 
dynasties,  it  was,  and  (however  much  relaxed  in  cer- 
tain countries)  it  still  remains,  the  law  of  Islam.  One 
must  admire  the  rare  tenacity  of  the  Christian 
faith,  which,  with  but  scanty  light  and  hope,  held  its 
ground  through  weary  ages  of  insult  and  depression, 
and  still  survives  to  see  the  dawning  of  a  brighter 
day.1 

Such,  then,  was  the  hostile  attitude  of  Islam  mili- 
tant in  its  early  days ;  such  the  pressure  continuing  in- 
ducements  In 
brought  to  bear  on  conquered  lands  for  its  times  of  peace. 

acceptance ;  and  such  the  disabilities  imposed  upon 
recusant  Jews  and  Christians.  On  the  one  hand, 
rapine,  plunder,  slavery,  tribute,  civil  disability ;  on 
the  other,  security,  peace,  and  honor.  "We  need  not 
be  surprised  that,  under  such  constraint,  conquered 
peoples  succumbed  before  Islam.  Nor  were  the  tem- 
poral inducements  to  conversion  confined  to  the 
period  during  which  the  Saracens  were  engaged  in 
spreading  Islam  by  force  of  arms.  Let  us  come  down 
a  couple  of  centuries  from  the  time  of  Mohammed, 
and  take  the  reign  of  the  tolerant  and  liberal-minded 
sovereign,  Al  Mamun. 

1  See  Annals,  etc.,  p.  213. 


110  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

Among  the  philosophers  of  all  creeds  whom  that 
Evidence  of  Ai  great  calipli  gathered  around  him  at  Bag- 
ond  century  of  dad  was  a  noble  Arab  of  the  Nestorian 
830.  '  faith,  descended  from  the  kingly  tribe  of 

the  Beni  Kinda,  and  hence  called  Al  Kindy.  A 
friend  of  this  Eastern  Christian,  himself  a  member 
of  the  royal  family,  invited  Al  Kindy  to  embrace 
Islam  in  an  epistle  enlarging  on  the  distinguished 
rank  which,  in  virtue  of  his  descent,  he  would  (if  a 
true  believer)  occupy  at  court,  and  the  other  priv- 
ileges, spiritual  and  material,  social  and  conjugal, 
which  he  would  enjoy.  In  reply  the  Christian  wrote 
an  apology  of  singular  eloquence  and  power,  throw- 
ing a  flood  of  light  on  the  worldly  inducements 
which,  even  at  that  comparatively  late  period,  abounded 
in  a  Moslem  state  to  promote  conversion  to  Islam. 
Thus  Al  Mamun  himself,  in  a  speech  delivered  before 
speech  of  AI  ^s  comualj  characterizes  certain  of  his 
courtiers  accused  as  secret  adherents  of 
the  Zoroastrian  faith : 

Though  professing  Islam,  they  are  free  from  the  same.  This  they 
do  to  be  seen  of  me,  while  their  convictions,  I  am  well  aware,  are 
just  the  opposite  of  that  which  they  profess.  They  belong  to  a  class 
which  embrace  Islam,  not  from  any  love  of  this  our  faith,  but  thinking 
thereby  to  gain  access  to  our  court,  and  share  in  the  honor,  wealth, 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  Ill 

and  power  of  the  realm.     They  have  no  inward  persuasion  of  that 
wliich  they  outwardly  profess."  ' 

Again,  speaking  of  the  various  classes  brought 
over  to  Islam  by  sordid  and  unworthy  converts  from 

"     sordid    mo- 

motives,  Al  Kmdy  says  :  tives. 

Moreover,  there  are  the  idolatrous  races — Hagians  and  Jews — low 
people  aspiring  by  the  profession  of  Islam  to  raise  themselves  to  riches 
and  power  and  to  form  alliances  with  the  families  of  the  learned  and  hon- 
orable. There  are,  besides,  hypocritical  men  of  the  world,  who  ill  this 
way  obtain  indulgences  in  the  matter  of  marriage  and  concubinage 
which  are  forbidden  to  them  by  the  Christian  faith.  Then  we  have 
the  dissolute  class  given  over  wholly  to  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  And 
lastly  there  are  those  who  by  this  means  obtain  a  more  secure  and 
easy  livelihood.11 

Before  leaving  this  part  of  our  subject  it  may  be 
opportune  to  quote  a  few  more  passages  A1      Klndy 
from   Al  Kindy,  in  which    he   contrasts 
the  inducements  that,  under  the  military 
and  political  predominance  of  Islam,  pro-  tyr' 
moted  its  rapid  spread,  and  the  opposite  conditions 
under  which   Christianity  made   progress,  The 
slow,  indeed,  comparatively,  but  sure  and 
steady.     First,  he  compares  the  Christian  martyn 
confessor  with  the  Moslem  "  martyr : " 

I  marvel  much,  he  says,  that  ye  call  those  martyrs  that  fall  in  war. 
Thou  hast  rend,  no  doubt,  in  history  of  the  followers  of  Christ  put  to 

1  Tlie  Apolrnjy  of  Al  Kindy,  written  at  the  court  of  Al  Mamun  A.  H. 
215  (A.  D.  830),  with  an  essay  on  its  age  and  authorship,  p.  12. 
Smith  &  Elder,  1882.  9  Ibid.,  p.  34. 

8 


112  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

death  in  the  persecutions  of  the  kings  of  Persia  and  elsewhere.  Say, 
now,  which  are  the  more  worthy  to  be  called  martyrs,  these,  or  thy 
fellows  that  fall  righting  for  the  world  and  the  power  thereof?  How- 
diverse  were  the  barbarities  and  kinds  of  death  inflicted  on  the  Chris- 
tian confessors !  The  more  they  were  slain  the  more  rapidly  spread 
the  faith  ;  in  place  of  one  sprang  up  a  hundred.  On  a  certain  occasion, 
when  a  great  multitude  had  been  put  to  death,  one  at  court  said  to 
the  king,  "  The  number  of  them  increaseth  instead  of,  as  tliou  thinkest, 
diminishing."  "  How  can  that  be?  "  exclaimed  the  king.  "But  yes- 
terday," replied  the  courtier,  "thou  didst  put  such  and  such  a  one  to 
death,  and  lo,  there  were  converted  double  that  number;  and  the 
people  say  that  a  man  appeared  to  the  confessors  from  heaven 
strengthening  them  in  their  last  moments."  Whereupon  the  king 
himself  was  converted.  In  those  days  men  thought  not  their  lives 
dear  unto  them.  Some  were  transfixed  while  yet  alive  ;  others  had 
their  limbs  cut  off  one  after  another ;  some  were  cast  to  the  wild 
beasts  and  others  burned  in  the  fire.  Such  continued  long  to  be  the 
fate  of  the  Christian  confessors.  No  parallel  is  found  thereto  in  any 
other  religion;  and  all  was  endured  with  constancy  and  even  with 
joy.  One  smiled  in  the  midst  of  his  great  suffering.  "Was  it  cold 
water,"  they  asked,  "  that  was  brought  unto  thee  ?  "  "  No,"  answered 
the  sufferer,  "  it  was  one  like  a  youth  that  stood  by  me  and  anointed 
my  wounds  ;  and  that  made  me  smile,  for  the  pain  forthwith  departed." 
Now  tell  me  seriously,  my  friend,  which  of  the  two  hath  the  best 
claim  to  be  called  a  martyr,  "slain  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord: ''  he  who 
surrendereth  his  life  rather  than  renounce  his  faith;  who,  when  it  is 
said,  Fall  down  and  worship  the  sun  and  moon,  or  the  idols  of  silver  and 
gold,  work  of  men's  hands,  instead  of  the  true  God,  refuseth,  choos- 
ing rather  to  give  up  life,  abandon  wealth,  and  forego  even  wife  and 
family ;  or  he  that  goeth  forth,  ravaging  and  laying  waste,  plunder- 
ing and  spoiling,  slaying  the  men,  carrying  away  their  children  into 
captivity,  and  ravishing  their  wives  and  maidens  in  his  unlawful  em- 
brace, and  then  shall  call  it  "  Jehad  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord !  "  .  .  . 
And  not  content  therewith,  instead  of  humbling  thyself  before  the 
Lord,  and  seeking  pardon  for  the  crime,  thou  sayest  of  such  a  one 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  113 

slain  in  the  war  that  "  lie  hath  earned  paradise,"  and  thou  namest  him 
"  a  martyr  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord !  "  J 

And  again,  contrasting  the  spread  of  Islam,  "  its 
rattling  quiver  and  its  glittering  sword,"  with  the 
silent  progress  of  Christianity,  our  apologist,  after 
dwelling  on  the  teaching  and  the  miracles  of  the  apos- 
tles, writes  : 

They  published  their  message  by  means  of  these  miracles;  and 
thus  great  and  powerful  kings  and  philosophers  and  learned  men  and 
judges  of  the  earth  hearkened  unto  them,  without  lash  or  rod,  with 
neither  sword  nor  spear,  nor  the  advantages  of  birth  or  "  Helpers ;  " 2 
with  no  wisdom  of  this  world,  or  eloquence  or  power  of  language,  or 
subtlety  of  reason  ;  with  no  worldly  inducement,  nor  yet  again  with  any 
relaxation  of  the  moral  law,  but  simply  at  the  voice  of  truth  enforced 
by  miracles  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  show.  And  so  there  came  over 
to  them  the  kings  and  great  ones  of  the  earth.  And  the  philosophers 
abandoned  their  systems,with  all  their  wisdom  and  learning,  and  betook 
them  to  a  saintly  life,  giving  up  the  delights  of  this  world  together  with 
their  old-established  usages,  and  became  followers  of  a  company  of 
poor  men,  fishers  and  publicans,  who  had  neither  name  nor  rank  nor 
any  claim  other  than  that  they  were  obedient  to  the  command  of  the 
Messiah — he  that  gave  them  power  to  do  such  wonderful  works.' 

And  yet  once  more,  comparing  the  The  apost]es 
apostles  with  the  military  chiefs  of  Islam,  £?PS&rS 
Al  Kindy  proceeds  :  Islam' 

After  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  gift  of  tongues  the 
apostles  separated  each  to  the  country  to  which  he  was  called.  They 

1  Apology,  p.  47,  et.  seq. 

2  Alluding  to  the  "  Ansar,"  or  mortal  "Helpers"  of  Mohammed  at 
Medina.     Throughout,  the  apologist,  it  will  be  observed,  is  drawing  a 
contrast  with  the  means  used  for  the  spread  of  Islam.     3 Apology,  p.  16. 


114  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

wrote  out  in  every  tongue  the  holy  Gospel,  and  the  story  and  teach- 
ing of  Christ,  at  the  dictation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  So  the  nations 
drew  near  unto  them,  believing  their  testimony;  and,  giving  up  tlie 
world  and  their  false  beliefs,  they  embraced  the  Christian  faith  as 
soon  as  ever  the  dawn  of  truth  and  the  light  of  the  good  tidings 
broke  in  upon  them.  Distinguishing  the  true  from  the  false,  ;md 
error  from  the  right  direction,  they  embraced  the  Gospel  and  held  it 
fast  without  doubt  or  wavering,  when  they  s:iw  the  wonderful  works 
and  signs  of  the  apostles,  and  their  lives  and  conversation  set  after  the 
holy  and  beautiful  example  of  our  Saviour,  the  traces  whereof  remain 
even  unto  the  present  day.  .  .  .  How  different  this  from  the  life  of 
thy  Master  (Mohammed)  and  his  companions,  who  ceased  not  to  go  forth 
in  battle  and  rapine,  to  smite  with  the  sword,  to  seize  the  little  ones, 
and  ravish  the  wives  and  maidens,  plundering  and  laying  waste,  and 
carrying  the  people  into  captivity.  And  thus  they  continue  unto  this 
present  day,  inciting  men  to  these  evil  deeds,  even  as  it  is  told  of 
Omar  the  Caliph.  "If  one  among  }rou,"  said  he,  "hath  a  heathen 
neighbor  and  is  in  need,  let  him  seize  and  sell  him."  And  many 
such  things  they  say  and  teach.  Look  now  at  the  lives  of  Simon 
and  Paul,  who  went  about  healing  the  sick  and  raising  the  dead,  by 
the  name  of  Christ  our  Lord;  and  mark  the  contrast.1 

Such  are  the  reflections  of  one  who  lived  at  a  Mo- 
such  are  the  hammedaii  court,  and  who,  moreover,  flour- 
a°n(nativeS  of  ^sni"g  as  ne  did  a  thousand  years  ago,  was 
sufficiently  near  the  early  spread  of  Islam 
to  be  able  to  contrast  what  he  saw  and  heard  and 
read  of  the  causes  of  its  success  with  those  of  the 
Gospel,  and  had  the  courage  to  confess  the  same. 

Apart,  now,  from  the  outward  and  extraneous  aids 

1  Apology,  p.  57. 


THE  RAPID  WHEAT)  np  fKLAtf,  115 

given  to  Islam  by  the  sword  and  bj  the  civil  arm 
I  will  inquire  for  a  moment  what  natu-  Hinderancesor 
ml  effect  the  teaching  of  Islam  itself  had  j^erenun"^ 
in  attracting  or  repelling  mankind.  I  do  faith  itselL 
not  now  speak  of  any  power  contained  in  the  truths 
it  inculcated  to  convert  to  Islam  by  the  rousing  and 
quickening  of  spiritual  impulses  ;  for  that  lies  beyond 
my  present  purpose,  which  is  to  inquire  whether  there 
is  not  in  material  causes  and  secular  motives  enough 
in  themselves  to  account  for  success.  I  speak  rather 
of  the  effect  of  the  indulgences  granted  by  Islam,  on 
the  one  hand,  as  calculated  to  attract ;  and  of  the  re- 
straints imposed  arid  sacrifices  required,  on  the  other, 
as  calculated  to  repel.  How  far,  in  fact,  did  there 
exist  inducements  or  hinderances  to  its  adoption  in- 
herent in  the  religion  itself  ? 

"What  may  be  regarded  as  the  most  constant  and 
irksome  of  the  obligations  of  Islam  is  the 

Requirements 

duty  of  prayer,  which  must  be  observed  Of  isiam: 
at  stated  intervals,  five  times  every  day, 
with  the  contingent  ceremony  of  lustration.  The 
rite  consists  of  certain  forms  and  passages  to  be  re- 
peated with  prescribed  series  of  prostrations  and 
genuflexions.  These  must  be  repeated  at  the  right 
times — but  anywhere,  in  the  house  or  by  the  way- 


116  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

side,  as  well  as  in  the  mosque  ;  and  the  ordinance  is 
obligatory  in  whatever  state  of  mind  the  worshiper 
may  be,  or  however  occupied.  As  the  appointed 
hour  comes  round  the  Moslem  is  bound  to  turn  aside 
to  pray — so  much  so  that  in  Central  Asia  we  read  of 
the  police  driving  the  backward  worshiper  by  the 
lash  to  discharge  the  duty.  Thus,  with  the  mass  of 
Mussulmans,  the  obligation  becomes  a  mere  formal 
ceremony,  and  one  sees  it  performed  anywhere  and 
every-where  by  the  whole  people,  like  any  social  cus- 
tom, as  a  matter  of  course.  No  doubt  there  are  ex- 
ceptions ;  but  with  the  multitude  it  does  not  involve 
the  irksomeness  of  a  spiritual  service,  and  so  it  sits 
lightly  on  high  and  low.  The  Friday  prayers  should 
as  a  rule  be  attended  in  the  mosque  ;  but  neither 
need  there  be  much  devotion  there ;  and,  once  per- 
formed, the  rest  of  the  day  is  free  for  pleasure  or  for 
prohibition  of  mismess-J  The  prohibition  of  wine  is  a 
rhTn^eTii'd  restriction  which  was  severely  felt  in  the 
early  days  of  the  faith  ;  but  it  was .  not 
long  before  the  universal  sentiment  (though  eluded 

1 1  am  not  here  comparing  the  value  of  these  observances  with 
those  of  other  religions.  I  am  inquiring  only  how  far  the  obligations 
of  Islam  may  be  held  to  involve  hardship  or  sacrifice  such  as  might 
have  retarded  the  progress  of  Islam  by  rendering  it  on  its  first  intro- 
duction unpopular. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  117 

in  some  quarters)  supported  it.  The  embargo  upon 
games  of  chance  was  certainly  unpopular;  and  the 
prohibition  of  the  receipt  of  interest  was  also  an  im- 
portant limitation,  tending  as  it  did  to  shackle  the 
freedom  of  mercantile  speculation ;  but  they  have 
been  partially  evaded  on  various  pretexts.  The  fast 
throughout  the  month  of  Ramzan  was  a  Fagt  of  Ram_ 
severer  test ;  but  even  this  lasts  only  dur-  zan- 
ing  the  day  ;  and  at  night,  from  sunset  till  dawn,  all 
restrictions  are  withdrawn,  not  only  in  respect  of 
food,  but  of  all  otherwise  lawful  gratifications.1 

There  is  nothing,  therefore,  in  the  re-  Llttle  that  lg 
quirements  and  ordinances  of  Islam,  ex-  fjjjjljrrd|! 
cepting  the  fast,  that  is  very  irksome  to  Di 
humanity,  or  which,  as  involving  any  material  sacri- 
fice, or  the  renunciation  of  the  pleasures  or  indulg- 
ences of  life,  should  lead  a  man  of  the  world  to  hesi- 
tate in  embracing  the  new  faith. 

On  the  other  hand,  the    license   allowed    by  the 
Koran   between   the    sexes— at    least    in 

Indulgences 

favor  of  the   male  sex — is  so  wide  that  allowed  mine 

matter  of  wives 

for  such  as*  have  the  means  and  the  de-  and  concu- 
bines, 
sire  to  take  advantage  of  it  there  need  be 

no  limit  whatever  to  sexual  indulgence.     It  is  true 
1  See  Sura  ii,  v.  88. 


7 18  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

that  adultery  is  punishable  by  death  and  fornication 
with  stripes.  But  then  the  Koran  gives  the  believer 
permission  to  have  four  wives  at  a  time.  And  he 
may  exchange  them — that  is,  he  may  divorce  them  at 
pleasure,  taking  others  in  their  stead.1  And,  as  if 
this  were  not  license  enough,  the  divine  law  permits 
the  believer  to  consort  with  all  female  slaves  whom 
he  may  be  the  master  of — such,  namely,  as  have 
been  taken  in  war,  or  have  been  acquired  by  gift  or 
purchase.  These  he  may  receive  into  his  harem  in- 
stead of  wives,  or  in  addition  to  them  ;  and  without 
any  limit  of  number  or  restraint  whatever  he  is  at 
liberty  to  cohabit  with  them. 

A  few  instances  taken  at  random  will  enable  the 
reader  to  "judge  how  the  indulgences  thus 

PolyRamy,con-  J 

cubinage,  and  allowed  by  the  religion  were   taken  ad- 
divorce.  Prac- 
tice at  the  rise   vantage  of  in  the  early  days  of  Islam.     In 

of  Islam. 

the  great  plague  which  devastated  Syria 
seven  years  after  the  prophet's  death  Khalid,  the 
Sword  of  God,  lost  forty  sons.  Abdal  Rahman,  one 
of  the  "  companions "  of  Mohammed,  had  issue  by 
sixteen  wives,  not  counting  slave-girls.*  Mogliira 

1  Sura  iv,  18.     "Exchange  "  is  the  word  used  in  the  Koran. 
8  Each  of  his  widows  had  100,000  golden  pieces  left  her.     Life  of 
Mohammed,  p.  171. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  119 

ibn  Shoba,  another  "  companion,"  and  governor  of 
Kufa  and  Bussorah,  had  in  his  harem  eighty  consorts, 
free  and  servile.  Coming  closer  to  the  Prophet's 
household,  we  find  that  Mohammed  himself  at  one  pe- 
riod had  in  his  harem  no  fewer  than  nine  wives  ancf 
two  slave-girls.  Of  his  grandson  Hasan  we  read  that 
his  vagrant  passion  gained  for  him  the  unenviable 
sobriquet  of  TJie  Dworcer  /  for  it  was  only  by  con- 
tinually divorcing  his  consorts  that  he  could  harmo- 
nize his  craving  for  fresh  nuptials  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  divine  law,  which  limited  the  number 
of  his  free  wives  to  four.  We  are  told  that,  as  a 
matter  of  simple  caprice,  he  exercised  the  power  of 
divorce  seventy  (according  to  other  traditions  ninety) 
times.  When  the  leading  men  complained  to  Aly  of 
the  licentious  practice  of  his  son  his  only  reply  was 
that  the  remedy  lay  in  their  own  hands,  of  refusing 
Hasan  their  daughters  altogether.1  Such  are  the  ma- 
terial inducements,  the  "  works  of  the  flesh,"  which 
Islam  makes  lawful  to  its  votaries,  and  which  pro- 
moted thus  its  early  spread. 

Descending  now  to  modern  times,  we  still  find  that 

1  "  These  divorced  wives  were  irrespective  of  his  concubines  or 
shive-girls,  upon  the  number  and  variety  of  whom  there  was  no  limit 
or  check  whatever." — Annals,  p.  418. 


Practice        in 
modern  times. 


120  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

this  sexual  license  is  taken  advantage  of  more  or 
less  in  different  countries  and  conditions 
of  society.  The  following  examples 
are  simply  meant  as  showing  to  what  excess  it  is 
possible  for  the  believer  to  carry  these  indulgences, 
The  Maia  s  of  un(^er  Me  sanction  of  his  religion.  Of 
Penang.  ^]]e  ]yj;a]ajg  m  Penang  it  was  written  not 

very  long  ago  :  "  Young  men  of  thirty  to  thirty-five 
years  of  age  may  be  met  with  who  have  had  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  wives,  and  children  by  several  of 
them.  These  women  have  been  divorced,  married 
others,  and  had  children  by  them."  Regarding 
Lane's  testi-  Egypt,  Lane  tells  us :  "  I  have  heard  of 

mony  concern- 
ing Egypt,  men  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  mar- 
rying a  new  wife  almost  every  month."  '  Burkhardt 
speaks  of  an  Arab  forty-five  years  old  who  had  had 
fifty  wives,  "  so  that  he  must  have  divorced  two  wives 
and  married  two  fresh  ones  on  the  average  every  year." 
The  princess  And  not  to  go  further  than  the  sacred  city 

of  Bhopal's  ac-  . 

couutot Mecca,  of  Mecca,  the  late  reigning  princess  ot 
Bhopal,  in  central  India,  herself  an  orthodox  follower 

1  Lane  adds:  "There  are  many  men  in  this  country  who,  in  the 
course  of  ten  years,  have  married  as  many  as  twenty,  thirty,  or  more 
wives ;  and  women  not  far  advanced  in  age  have  been  wives  to  a 
dozen  or  more  husbands  successively."  Note  that  all  this  is  entirely 
within  the  religions  sanction. 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  121 

of  the  Prophet,  after  making  the  pilgrimage  of  the 
holy  places,  writes  thus  : 

Women  frequently  contract  as  many  as  ten  marriages,  and  those 
who  have  only  been  married  twice  are  fevr  in  number.  If  a  woman 
sees  her  husband  growing  old,  or  if  she  happen  to  admire  any  one 
else,  she  goes  to  the  Shereef  (the  spiritual  and  civil  head  of  the  holy 
city),  and  after  having  settled  the  matter  with  him  she  puts  away 
her  husband  and  takes  to  herself  another,  who  is,  perhaps,  good- 
looking  and  rich.  In  this  way  a  marriage  seldom  lasts  more  than  a 
year  or  two. 

And  of  slave-girls  the  same  high  and  impartial 
authority,  still  writing  of  the  holy  city  and  of  her 
fellow- Moslems,  tells  us : 

Some  of  the  women  (African  and  Georgian  girls)  are  taken  in  mar- 
riage; and  after  that,  on  being  sold  again,  they  receive  from  their 
masters  a  divorce,  and  are  sold  in  their  houses — that  is  to  say,  they 
are  sent  to  the  purchaser  from  their  master's  house  on  receipt  of 
payment,  and  are  not  exposed  for  sale  in  the  slave-market.  They  are 
only  married  when  purchased  for  the  first  time.  .  .  .  When  the 
poorer  people  buy  (female)  slaves  they  keep  them  for  themselves,  and 
change  them  every  year  as  one  would  replace  old  things  by  new; 
but  the  women  who  have  children  are  not  sold.1 

1  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  by  her  highness  the  reigning  Begum  of 
Bhopal,  translated  by  Mrs.  W.  Osborne  (1870),  pp.  82,  88.  Slave- 
girls  cannot  be  married  until  freed  by  their  masters.  What  her  high- 
ness tells  of  women  divorcing  their  husbands  is  of  course  entirely 
ultra  vires,  and  shows  how  the  laxity  of  conjugal  relations  allowed 
to  the  male  sex  has  extended  itself  to  the  female  also,  and  that  in  a 
city  where,  if  anywhere,  we  should  have  expected  to  find  the  law  ob- 
served. 


122  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

What  I  desire  to  make  clear  is  the  fact  that  such 
things  may  be  practiced  with  the  sanction 

Islam       sane- 

tions  a  license  of  tiie  Scripture  which  the  Moslem  holds 

between      the 

^HstiaSty  to  be  Divine,  and  that  these  same  in- 
dulgences have  from  the  first  existed  as 
inducements  which  helped  materially  to  forward  the 
spread  of  the  faith.  I  am  very  far,  indeed,  from  im- 
plying that  excessive  indulgence  in  polygamy  is  the 
universal  state  of  Moslem  society.  Happily  this  is 
not  the  case.  There  are  not  only  individuals,  but 
tribes  and  districts,  which,  either  from  custom  or 
preference,  voluntarily  restrict  the  license  given  them 
in  the  Koran  ;  while  the  natural  influence  of  the  fam- 
ily, even  in  Moslem  countries,  has  an  antiseptic  tend- 
ency that  often  itself  tends  greatly  to  neutralize  the 
evil.1  Nor  am  I  seeking  to  institute  any  contrast  be- 

1  In  India,  for  example,  there  are  Mohammedan  races  among  whom 
monogamy,  as  a  rule,  prevails  by  custom,  and  individuals  exercising 
their  right  of  polygamy  are  looked  upon  with  disfavor.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  meet  occasionally  with  men  who  aver  that  rather  against 
their  will  (as  they  will  sometimes  rather  amusingly  say)  they  have 
been  forced  by  custom  or  family  influence  to  add  by  polygamy  to 
their  domestic  burdens.  In  Mohammedan  countries,  however,  when 
we  hear  of  a  man  confining  himself  to  one  wife,  it  does  not  necessa- 
rily follow  that  he  has  no  slaves  to  consort  with  in  his  harem.  I  may 
remark  that  slave-girls  have  by  Mohammedan  laws  no  conjugal  rights 
whatever,  but  are  like  playthings,  at  the  absolute  discretion  of  their 


THE  RAPID  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM.  12S 

tween  the  morals  at  large  of  Moslem  countries  and 
the  rest  of  the  Nvorld.  If  Christian  nations  are  (as 
with  shame  it  must  be  confessed)  in  some  strata  of 
society  immoral,  it  is  in  the  teeth  of  their  divine  law. 
And  the  restrictions  of  that  law  are  calcn-  The  laws  <>r 
lated,  and  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity  deter  men  from 

carnal     indul- 


did  tend,  in  point  of  fact,  to  deter  men 
devoted  to  the  indulgences  of  the  flesh  from  em- 
bracing the  faith.1  The  religion  of  Mohammed,  on 
the  other  hand,  gives  direct  sanction  to  the  sexual 
indulgences  we  have  been  speaking  of.  Thus  it 
panders  to  the  lower  instincts  of  humanity  and  makes 
its  spread  the  easier.  In  direct  opposition  to  the 
precepts  of  Christianity  it  "  makes  provision  for  the 
flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof."  Hence  Islam  the 
Islam  has  been  well  called  by  its  own  Easy  Way-' 
votaries  the  Easy  Way.  Once  more,  to  quote  Al 
Kindy : 

Thou  invitcst  me  (says  our  apologist  to  his  friend)  into  the  "Easy 
way  of  faith  and  practice."  Alas,  alas!  for  our  Saviour  in  the  Gospel 
tclleth  us,  "When  ye  have  done  all  that  ye  are  commanded,  say,  We 
are  unprofitable  servants;  we  have  but  done  that  which  was  com- 
manded us."  Where  then  is  our  merit  ?  The  same  Lord  Jesus  saith, 

1  The  case  of  the  Corinthian  offender  is  much  in  point,  as  showing 
how  the  strict  discipline  of  the  Church  must  have  availed  to  make 
Christianity  unpopular  with  the  mere  worldling. 


724  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

"  How  strait  is  the  road  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  how  few  they 
be  that  walk  therein  1  How  wide  the  gate  that  leadeth  to  destruc- 
tion, and  how  many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat !  "  Different  this, 
my  friend,  from  the  comforts  of  thy  wide  and  easy  gate,  and  the 
facilities  for  enjoying,  as  tliou  wouldst  have  me,  the  pleasures  offered 
by  thy  faith  in  wives  and  damsels!  ' 

1  Apology,  p.  51.  I  repeat,  that  in  the  remarks  I  have  mink' 
under  this  head,  no  comparison  is  sought  to  be  drawn  betwixt  the 
morality  of  nominally  Christian  and  Moslem  peoples.  On  this  subject 
1  mny  be  allowed  to  quote  from  what  I  have  said  elsewhere:  "The 
Laxit  amon  M°siem  advocate  will  urge  .  .  .  the  social  evil  as  the 
nominal  Chris-  necessary  result  of  inexorable  monogamy.  The  Koran 
tians.  not  onjy  Denounces  any  illicit  laxity  between  the  sexes 

in  the  severest  terms,  but  exposes  the  transgressor  to  condign  punish- 
ment. For  this  reason,  and  because  the  conditions  of  what  is  licit 
are  so  accommodating  and  wide,  a  certain  negative  virtue  (it  can 
hardly  be  called  continence  or  chastity)  pervades  Mohammedan  so- 
ciety, iu  contrast  with  which  the  gross  and  systematic  immorality  in 
certain  parts  of  every  European  community  may  be  regarded  by  the 
Christian  with  shame  and  confusion.  In  a  purely  Mohammedan 
land,  however  low  may  be  the  general  level  of  moral  feeling,  the  still 
lower  depths  of  fallen  humanity  are  unknown.  The  '  social  evil ' 
and  intemperance,  prevalent  in  Christian  lands,  are  the  strongest 
weapons  in  the  armory  of  Islam.  We  point,  and  justly,  to  the  higher 
morality  and  civilization  of  those  who  do  observe  the  precepts  of  the 
Gospel,  to  the  stricter  unity  and  virtue  which  cement  the  family,  and 
to  the  elevation  of  the  sex ;  but  in  vain,  while  the  example  of  our 
great  cities,  and  too  often  of  our  representatives  abroad,  belies  the 
argument.  And  yet  the  argument  is  sound.  For,  in  proportion  as 
Christianity  exercises  her  legitimate  influence,  vice  and  intemper- 
ance will  wane  and  vanish,  and  the  higher  morality  pervade  the 
whole  body ; '  whereas  in  Islam  the  deteriorating  influences  of  polyg- 
amy, divorce,  and  concubinage  have  been  stereotyped  for  all  time." 
— The  Koran :  its  Composition  and  Teaching,  and  the  Testimony  it  bears 
to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  p.  60. 


WHY  THE  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM  WAS  STA  TED.        125 


II. 

WHY   THE   SPREAD    OP   ISLAM   WAS   STAYED. 

HAVING  thus  traced  the  rapid  early  spread  of  Islam 
to  its  proper  source,  I  proceed  to  the  re-  isiam  station- 

.    .  .  ,         ,  ,  .   ,      ary    in    area, 

main  ing  topics,  namely,  the  causes  which  and  in  civ;n- 

zation     retro- 

have  checked  its  further  extension,  and  grade, 
those  likewise  which  have  depressed  the  followers  of 
this  religion  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  I  shall  take 
the  former  first — just  remarking  here,  in  respect  of 
the  latter,  that  the  depression  of  Islam  is  itself  one  of 
the  causes  which  retard  the  expansion  of  the  faith. 

As  the  first  spread  of  Islam  was  due  to  the  sword, 
so   when   the   sword  was  sheathed  Islam  The   Arabs 

ceased ,     i  ii 

ceased  to  spread.     The  apostles  and  mis-  second    cent- 
ury, to  be  a  cru- 
sionaries  of  Islam  were,  as  we  have  seen,  sading force. 

the  martial  tribes  of  Arabia — that  is  to  say,  the  grand 
military  force  organized  by  Omar,  and  by  him 
launched  upon  the  surrounding  nations.  Gorged 
with  the  plunder  of  the  world,  these  began,  after  a 
time,  to  settle  on  their  lees  and  to  mingle  with  the 
ordinary  population.  So  soon  as  this  came  to  pass 


126  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

they  lost  the  fiery  zeal  which  at  the  first  had  made 
them  irresistible.  By  the  second  and  third  centuries 
the  Arabs  had  disappeared  as  the  standing  army 
of  the  caliphate,  or,  in  other  words,  as  a  body 
set  apart  for  the  dissemination  of  the  faith.  The 
crusading  spirit,  indeed,  ever  and  anon  burst  forth — 
and  it  still  bursts  forth,  as  opportunity  offers — simply 
for  the  reason  that  this  spirit  pervades  the  Koran,  and 
is  ingrained  in  the  creed.  But  with  the  special 
agency  created  and  maintained  during  the  first  ages 
for  the  spread  of  Islam  the  incentive  of  crusade 
ceased  as  a  distinctive  missionary  spring  of  action, 
and  degenerated  into  the  common  lust  of  conquest 
which  we  meet  with  in  the  world  at  large. 

The  extension  of  Islam,  depending  upon  military 
success,  stopped  wherever  that  was  checked.' 

With  cessation 

isiamC°nceased  ^ie  religi°n  advanced  or  retired,  speaking 
to  spread.  broadly,  as  the  armed  predominance  made 
head  or  retroceded.  Thus  the  tide  of  Moslem  victory, 
rushing  along  the  coast  of  Africa,  extinguished  the 
seats  of  European  civilization  on  the  Mediterranean, 
overwhelmed  Spain,  and  was  rapidly  advancing  north, 
when  the  onward  wave  was  stemmed  at  Tours ;  and 
as  with  the  arms,  the  faith  also  of  Islam  was  driven 
back  into  Spain  and  bounded  by  the  Pyrenees.  So, 


WHY  THE  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM  WAS  STA  YED.        127 

likewise,  the  hold  which  the  religion  seized  botli  of 
Spain  and  Sicily  came  to  an  end  with  Mussulman 
defeat.  It  is  true  that  when  once  long  and  firmly 
rooted,  as  in  India  and  China,  Islam  may  survive  the 
loss  of  military  power,  and  even  flourish.  But  it  is 
equally  true  that  in  no  single  country  has  Islam  been 
planted,  nor  has  it  anywhere  materially  spread,  saving 
under  the  banner  of  the  Crescent  or  the  political 
ascendency  of  some  neighboring  State.  Accordingly, 
we  find  that,  excepting  some  barbarous  zones  in 
Africa  which  have  been  raised  thereby  a  step  above 
the  groveling  level  of  fetichism,  the  faith  has  in 
modern  times  made  no  advance  worth  mentioning.1 

1  Much  loose  assertion  has  been  made  regarding  the  progress  of 

Islam  in  Africa  ;  but  I  have  found  no  proof  of  it  apart     . 

Alleged   prog- 
from  armed,  political,  or  trading  influence,  dogged  too    ress  of  Islam  in 

often  by  the  slave-trade;  to  a  great  extent  a  social  Africa- 
rather  than  a  religious  movement,  and  raising  the  fetich  tribes  (haply 
without  intemperance)  into  a  somewhat  higher  stage  of  semi-barbar- 
ism. I  have  met  nothing  which  would  touch  the  argument  in  the 
text.  The  following  is  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Koelle,  the  best  possible 
witness  on  the  subject: 

"  It  is  true  the  Mohammedan  nations  in  the  interior  of  Africa, 
namely,  the  Bornuese,  Mandengas,  Pulas,  etc.,  invited  by  the  weak 
and  defenseless  condition  of  the  surrounding  negro  tribes,  still  occa- 
sionally make  conquests,  and  after  subduing  a  tribe  of  pagans,  by 
almost  exterminating  its  male  population  and  committing  the  most 
horrible  atrocities,  impose  upon  those  that  remain  the  creed  of  Islam; 
but  keeping  in  view  the  whole  of  the  Mohammedan  world  this  fitful 
9 


128  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

From  the  Jewish  and  Christian  religions  there  lias 
(again  speaking  broadly)  been  no  secession  whatever 
to  Islam  since  the  wave  of  Saracen  victory  was  stayed, 
excepting  by  the  force  of  arms.  Even  in  the  palmy 
days  of  the  Abbasside  caliphs,  our  apologist  could 
challenge  his  adversary  to  produce  a  single  conversion 
otherwise  than  by  reason  of  some  powerful  material 
inducement.  Here  is  his  testimony : 

Now  tell  me,  hast  thou  ever  seen,  my  Friend,  (the  Lord  be  gracious 
Al  Kindy's  unto  *^eeO  or  ever  'iear(i  of  a  single  person  of  sound 
challenge  to  mind — any  one  of  learning  and  experience,  and  ac- 
Christian^con-  quoted  with  the  Scriptures,  renouncing  Christianity 
vert  to  Islam  otherwise  than  for  some  worldly  object  to  be  reached 
terlal  Tin-luce-  on^y  through  thy  religion,  or  for  some  gratification 
ments.  withheld  by  the  faith  of  Jesus  ?  Thou  wilt  find  none. 

For,  excepting  the  tempted  ones,  all  continue  steadfast  in  their  faith, 
secure  under  our  most  gracious  sovereign,  in  the  profession  of  their 
own  religion.1 

activity  reminds  one  only  of  these  green  branches  sometimes  scon 
on  trees,   already,  and  for  long,  decayed  at  the  core  from  age." — 
Food  for  Reflection,  p.  37. 
1  Apology,  p.  34. 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  129 


III. 

LOW  POSITION  OF  ISLAM  IN  THE  SCALE  OP  CIVILIZA- 
TION. 

I  PASS  on  to  consider  why  Mohammedan  nations  oc- 
cupy so  low  a  position,  halting  as  almost  g^,  and  ln_ 
every-where  they  do,  in  the  march  of  social  ^Sn.1    ° 
and  intellectual  development. 

The  reason  is  not  far  to  find.  Islam  was  meant  for 
Arabia,  not  for  the  world  ;  for  the  Arabs  jaam  lntended 
of  the  seventh  century,  not  for  the  Arabs  fortheArabs- 
of  all  time ;  and  being  such,  and  nothing  more,  its 
claim  of  divine  origin  renders  change  or  development 
impossible.  It  has  within  itself  neither  the  germ  of 
natural  growth  nor  the  lively  spring  of  adaptation. 
Mohammed  declared  himself  a  prophet  to  the  Arabs ; ' 
and  however  much  in  his  later  days  he  may  have  con- 
templated the  reformation  of  other  religions  beyond 
the  Peninsula,  or  the  further  spread  of  his  own  (which 
is  doubtful),  still  the  rites  and  ceremonies,  the  customs 
and  the  laws  enjoined  upon  his  people,  were  suitable 

1  Annals,  pp.  61,  224. 


130  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

(if  suitable  at  all)  for  the  Arabs  of  that  day,  and  in 
many  respects  for  them  alone.  Again,  the  code  con- 
taining these  injunctions,  social  and  ceremonial,  as 
well  as  doctrinal  and  didactic,  is  embodied  with  every 
particularity  of  detail,  as  part  of  the  divine  law,  in 
the  Koran;  and  so  defying,  as  sacrilege,  all  human 
touch,  it  stands  unalterable  forever.  From  the  stiff 
and  rigid  shroud  in  which  it  is  thus  swathed  the 
wants  the  fac-  religion  of  Mohammed  cannot  emerge. 

ulty  of  adapta- 
tion. It  has  no  plastic  power  beyond  that  exer- 
cised in  its  earliest  days.  Hardened  now  and  inelas- 
tic, it  can  neither  adapt  itself  nor  yet  shape  its  vota- 
ries, nor  even  suffer  them  to  shape  themselves  to  the 
varying  circumstances,  the  wants  and  developments, 
of  mankind. 

We  may  judge  of  the  local  and  inflexible  character 
Local  ceremo-  of  the  faith  from  one  or  two  of  its  cere- 

nies:   pilgrim- 
ape,  monies.     To   perform   the   pilgrimage   to 

Mecca  and  Mount  Arafat,  with  the  slaying  of  victims 
at  Mina,  and  the  worship  of  the  Kaaba,  is  an  ordi- 
nance obligatory  (with  the  condition  only  that  they 
have  the  means)  on  all  believers,  who  are  bound  to 
make  the  journey  even  from  the  furthest  ends  of  the 
earth — an  ordinance  intelligible  enough  in  a  local 
worship,  but  unmeaning  and  impracticable  when  re- 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  191 

quired  of  a  world-wide  religion.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  the  fast  of  Ramzan.  It  is  pre-  Fast  of  Ram_ 
scribed  in  the  Koran  to  be  observed  by  all  zan< 
with  undeviating  strictness  during  the  whole  day, 
from  earliest  dawn  till  sunset  throughout  the  month, 
with  specified  exemptions  for,  the  sick  and  penalties 
for  eveiy  occasion  on  which  it  is  broken.  The  com- 
mand, imposed  thus  witli  an  iron  rule  on  male  and 
female,  young  and  old,  operates  with  excessive  in- 
equality in  different  seasons,  lands,  and  climates. 
However  suitable  to  countries  near  the  equator,  where 
the  variations  of  day  and  night  are  immaterial,  the 
fast  becomes  intolerable  to  those  who  are  far  removed 
either  toward  the  north  or  the  south  ;  and  still  closer 
to  the  poles,  where  night  merges  into  day  and  day 
into  night,  impracticable.  Again,  with  the  lunar  year 
(itself  an  institution  divinely  imposed),  the  month  of 
Ramzan  travels  in  the  third  of  a  century  from  month 
to  month  over  the  whole  cycle  of  a  year.  The  fast 
was  established  at  a  time  when  Ramzan  fell  in  win- 
ter, and  the  change  of  season  was  probably  not  fore- 
seen by  the  Prophet.  But  the  result  is  one  which, 
under  some  conditions  of  time  and  place,  involves  the 
greatest  hardship.  For  when  the  fast  comes  round 
to  summer  the  trial  in  a  sultry  climate,  like  that  of 


J32  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

the  burning  Indian  plains,  of  passing  the  whole  day 
without  a  morsel  of  bread  or  a  drop  of  water  becomes 
to  many  the  occasion  of  intense  suffering.  Such  is 
the  effect  of  the  Arabian  legislator's  attempt  at  cir- 
cumstantial legislation  in  matters  of  religious  cere- 
monial. 

Nearly  the  same  is  the  case  with  all  the  religious 
.  obligations   of   Islam,    prayer,  lustration, 

EaovS"to  etc'  But  altnough  tne  minuteness  of  de- 
reiations  be-  tau  wjt]1  winca  these  are  enjoined  tends 


tween 
sexes. 


toward  that  jejune  and  formal  worship 
which  we  witness  every-where  in  Moslem  lands,  still 
there  is  nothing  in  these  observances  themselves  which 
(religion  apart)  should  lower  the  social  condition  of 
Mohammedan  populations  and  prevent  their  emerging 
from  that  normal  state  of  semi-barbarism  and  uncivil- 
ized depression  in  which  we  find  all  Moslem  peoples. 
For  the  cause  of  this  we  must  look  elsewhere ;  and  it 
may  be  recognized,  without  doubt,  in  the  relations 
established  by  the  Koran  between  the  sexes.  Polyg- 
amy, divorce,  servile  concubinage,  and  the  veil  are  at 
the  root  of  Moslem  decadence. 

Depression  of       ^n  resPect  °f  married  life  the  condition 
the  female  sex.  a]iotted  by  t]ie  Koran  to  woman  is  that  of 

an  inferior  dependent  creature,  destined  only  for  the 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  133 

service  of  her  master,  liable  to  be  cast  adrift  without 
the  assignment  of  a  single  reason  or  the  notice  of  a 
single  hour.  While  the  husband  possesses  the  power 
of  a  divorce — absolute,  immediate,  unquestioned — no 
privilege  of  a  corresponding  nature  has  been  reserved 
for  the  wife.  She  hangs  on,  however  unwilling,  neg- 
lected, or  superseded,  the  perpetual  slave  of  her  lord, 
if  such  be  his  will.  When  actually  divorced  she  can, 
indeed,  claim  her  dower — her  hire,  as  it  is  called  in 
the  too  plain  language  of  the  Koran ;  but  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  wife  can  make  this  claim  is  at  the  best 
a  miserable  security  against  capricious  taste ;  and  in 
the  case  of  bondmaids  even  that  imperfect  check  is 
wanting.  The  power  of  divorce  is  not  the  only 
power  that  may  be  exercised  by  the  tyrannical  hus- 
band. Authority  to  confine  and  to  beat  his  wives  is 
distinctly  vested  in  his  discretion.1  '"'  Thus  restrained, 
secluded,  degraded,  the  mere  minister  of  enjoyment, 
liable  at  the  caprice  or  passion  of  the  moment  to  be 
turned  adrift,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  that  the  posi- 
tion of  a  wife  was  improved  by  the  code  of  Moham- 
med." *  Even  if  the  privilege  of  divorce 

Divorc*. 

and  marital  tyranny  be  not  exercised,  the 
knowledge  of  its  existence  as  a  potential  right  must 
1  Sura  iv,  v.  33.  '  Life  of  Mohammed,  p.  348. 


134  THE  KISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

tend  to  abate  the  self-respect,  and  in  like  degree  to 
weaken  the  influence  of  the  sex,  impairing  thus  the 
ameliorating  and  civilizing  power  which  she  was  meant 
to  exercise  upon  mankind.  And  the  evil  has  been 
stereotyped  by  the  Koran  for  all  time. 
Principal  Fair-  -^  mus^  quote  one  more  passage  from 
n-feriliinder°™s-  -Principal  Fairbairn  on  the  lowering  in- 
fluence of  Moslem  domestic  life : 

The  God  of  Mohammed  ..."  spares  the  sins  the  Arab  loves.  A 
religion  that  does  not  purify  the  home  cannot  regenerate  the  race ; 
one  that  depraves  the  home  is  certain  to  deprave  humanity.  Moth- 
erhood is  to  be  sacred  if  manhood  is  to  be  honorable.  Spoil  the  wife 
of  sanctity  and  for  the  man  the  sanctities  of  life  have  perished.  And 
so  it  has  been  with  Islam.  It  has  reformed  and  lifted  savage  tribes ; 
it  has  depraved  and  barbarized  civilized  nations.  At  the  root  of  its 
fairest  culture  a  worm  has  ever  lived  that  has  caused  its  blossoms 
soon  to  wither  and  die.  Were  Mohammed  the  hope  of  man,  then  his 
state  were  hopeless;  before  him  could  only  be  retrogression,  tyr- 
anny, and  despair."  l 

Demoralizing         ^>t\\l  worse  is  the  influence  of  servile 
serTneconcu-    concubinage.      The  following  is  the  evi- 
dence of  a  shrewd  and  able  observer  in 
the  East : 

All  zenana  life  must  be  bad  for  men  at  all  stages  of  their  existence. 
...  In  youth  it  must  be  ruin  to  be  petted  and  spoiled  by  a  company 
of  submissive  slave-girls.  In  manhood  it  is  no  less  an  evil  that  when 
a  man  enters  into  private  life  his  affections  should  be  put  up  to  auc- 

1  The  City  of  God,  p.  97.     Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1883. 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  1S5 

tion  among  foolish,  fond  competitors  full  of  mutual  jealousies  and 
slanders.  We  are  not  left  entirely  to  conjecture  as  to  the  effect  of 
female  influence  on  home-life  when  it  is  exerted  under  these  unen- 
lightened and  demoralizing  conditions.  That  is  plainly  an  element 
lying  at  the  root  of  all  the  most  important  features  that  differentiate  prog- 
ress from  stagnation. l 

Such  are  the  institutions  which  gnaw  at  the  root 
of  Islam  and  prevent  the  growth  of  free-  Deteriorating 

influence  of  re- 

dom  and  civilization.    "  By  these  the  unity  lations   estab- 
lished between 
of  the   household  is  fatally  broken   and  the  sexes. 

the  purity  and  virtue  of  the  family  tie  weakened ; 
the  vigor  of  the  dominant  classes  is  sapped  ;  the  body 
politic  becomes  weak  and  languid,  excepting  for  in- 
trigues, and  the  throne  itself  liable  to  fall  a  prey  to  a 
doubtful  or  contested  succession  "  " — contested  by  the 
progeny  of  the  various  rivals  crowded  into  the  royal 
harem.  From  the  palace  downward  polygamy  and 
servile  concubinage  lower  the  moral  tone,  loosen  the 
ties  of  domestic  life,  and  hopelessly  depress  the 
people. 

Nor  is  the  veil,  albeit  under  the  circumstances  a 
necessary    precaution,    less    detrimental, 
though  in  a  different  way,  to  the  interests 
of  Moslem  society.      This  strange  custom  owes  its 

1  The  Turks  in  India,  by  H.  G.  Keene,  C.S.I.     Allen  &  Co.,  1879. 
9  Annals,  etc.,  p.  457. 


136  THE  RISE  AND  DECttNE  OF  ISLAM. 

origin  to  the  Prophet's  jealous  temperament.  It  is 
forbidden  in  the  Koran  for  women  to  appear  unveiled 
before  any  member  of  the  other  sex  with  the  excep- 
tion of  certain  near  relatives  of  specified  propinquity.1 
And  this  law,  coupled  with  other  restrictions  of  the 
kind,  has  led  to  the  imposition  of  the  boorka  or  purdah 
(the  dress  which  conceals  the  person  and  the  veil)  and 
to  the  greater  or  less  seclusion  of  the  harem  and 
zenana. 

This  ordinance  and  the  practices  flowing  from  it 
society  vitiated  mus*;  survive,  more  or  less,  so  long  as  the 
Saw?  ofWlthe  Koran  remains  the  rule  of  faith.  It  may 
female  sex.  appear  at  first  sight  a  mere  negative  evil, 
a  social  custom  comparatively  harmless  ;  but  in  truth 
it  has  a  more  debilitating  effect  upon  the  Moslem  race 
perhaps  than  any  thing  else,  for  by  it  woman  is  totally 
withdrawn  from  her  proper  place  in  the  social  circle. 
She  may,  indeed,  in  the  comparatively  laxer  license 
of  some  lands  be  seen  flitting  along  the  streets  or 
driving  in  her  carriage;  but  even  so  it  is  like  one  be- 
longing to  another  world,  veiled,  shrouded,  and  cut 

1See  Sura  xxxiv,  v.  32.  The  excepted  relations  are:  "  Husbands, 
fathers,  husbands'  fathers,  sons,  husbands'  sons,  brothers,  brothers' 
sons,  sisters'  sons,  the  captives  which  their  right  hands  possess,  such 
men  as  attend  them  and  have  no  need  of  women,  or  children  below 
the  age  of  puberty." 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  137 

off  from  intercourse  with  those  around  her.  Free 
only  in  the  retirement  of  her  own  secluded  apart- 
ments, she  is  altogether  shut  out  from  her  legitimate 
sphere  in  the  duties  and  enjoyments  of  life.  But  the 
blight  on  the  sex  itself  from  this  unnatural  regulation, 
sad  as  it  is,  must  be  regarded  as  a  minor  evil.  The 
mischief  extends  beyond  her.  The  tone  and  frame- 
work of  society  as  it  came  from  the  Maker's  hands 
are  altered,  damaged,  and  deteriorated.  From  the 
veil  there  flows  this  double  injury.  The  bright,  re- 
fining, softening  influence  of  woman  is  withdrawn 
from  the  outer  world,  and  social  life,  wanting  the 
gracious  influences  of  the  female  sex,  becomes,  as  we 
see  throughout  Moslem  lands,  forced,  hard,  Mohammedan 

society,    thus 

unnatural,  and  morose.  Moreover,  the  truncated,  in- 
Mohammedan  nations,  for  all  purposes  of  progress. 
common  elevation  and  for  all  efforts  of  philanthropy 
and  liberty,  are  (as  they  live  in  public  and  beyond  the 
inner  recesses  of  their  homes)  but  a  truncated  and  im- 
perfect exhibition  of  humanity.  They  are  wanting  in 
one  of  its  constituent  parts,  the  better  half,  The  defects  of 

Mohammedan 

the  humanizing  and  the  softening  element,    society. 
And  it  would  be  against  the  nature  of  things  to  sup- 
pose that  the  body,  thus  shorn  and   mutilated,  can 
possess  in  itself  the  virtue  and  power  of  progress, 


138  THE  RISE  AXD  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

reform,  and  elevation.  The  link  connecting  the  fam- 
ily with  social  and  public  life  is  detached,  and  so 
neither  is  en  rapport,  as  it  should  be,  with  the  other. 
Reforms  fail  to  find  entrance  into  the  family  or  to 
penetrate  the  domestic  soil  where  alone  they  could 
take  root,  grow  into  the  national  mind,  live,  and  be 
perpetuated.  Under  such  conditions  the  seeds  of 
civilization  refuse  to  germinate.  No  real  growth  is 
possible  in  free  and  useful  institutions,  nor  any  per- 
manent and  healthy  force  in  those  great  movements 
which  elsewhere  tend  to  uplift  the  masses  and  elevate 
mankind.  There  may,  it  is  true,  be  some  advance, 
from  time  to  time,  in  science  and  in  material  prosper- 
ity ;  but  the  social  groundwork  for  the  same  is  want- 
ing, and  the  people  surely  relapse  into  the  semi-bar- 
barism forced  upon  them  by  an  ordinance  which  is 
opposed  to  the  best  instincts  of  humanity.  Sustained 
progress  becomes  impossible.  Such  is  the  outcome  of 
an  attempt  to  improve  upon  nature  and  banish  woman, 
the  help-meet  of  man,  from  the  position  assigned  by 
God  to  her  in  the  world. 
Yet  the  veil  ^  ^nc  same  time  I  am  not  prepared  to 

necessary^un-    g&y  fa^  'n  vjew  of  ^ne  ]axity  of   the  COn- 

circumstances.  jnga|  reiatjons  inherent  in  the  institutions 
of  Islam  some  such  social  check  as  that  of  the  veil 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  139 

(apart  from  the  power  to  confine  and  castigate)  is  not 
needed  for  the  repression  of  license  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  outward  decency.  There  is  too  much  reason 
to  apprehend  that  free  social  intercourse  might  other- 
wise be  dangerous  to  morality  under  the  code  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  with  the  example  before  men  and  women 
of  the  early  worthies  of  Islam.  So  long  as  the  senti- 
ments and  habits  of  the  Moslem  world  remain  as  they 
are  some  remedial  or  preventive  measure  of  the  kind 
seems  indispensable.  But  the  peculiarity  of  the  Mus- 
sulman polity,  as  we  have  seen,  is  such  that  the  sexual 
laws  and  institutions  which  call  for  restrictions  of  the 
kind  as  founded  on  the  Koran  are  incapable  of  change ; 
they  must  co-exist  with  the  faith  itself,  and  last  while 
it  lasts.  So  long,  then,  as  this  polity  prevails  the 
depression  of  woman,  as  well  as  her  exclusion  from 
the  social  circle,  must  injure  the  health  and  vitality 
of  the  body  politic,  impair  its  purity  and  grace,  para- 
lyze vigor,  retard  progress  in  the  direction  of  free- 
dom, philanthropy,  and  moral  elevation,  and  generally 
perpetuate  the  normal  state  of  Mohammedan  peoples, 
as  one  of  semi-barbarism. 

To  recapitulate,  we  have  seen  : 

Recapitulation. 

First.    That    Islam    was    propagated 
mainly   by  the  sword.     With  the   tide  of  conquest 


140  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

the  religion  went  forward  ;  where  conquest  was 
arrested  made  no  advance  beyond  ;  and  at  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Moslem  arms  the  faith  also  commonly 
retired. 

Second.  The  inducements,  whether  material  or 
spiritual,  to  embrace  Islam  have  proved  insufficient 
of  themselves  (speaking  broadly)  to  spread  the  faith, 
in  the  absence  of  the  sword,  and  without  the  influence 
of  the  political  or  secular  arm. 

Third.  The  ordinances  of  Islam,  those  especially 
having  respect  to  the  female  sex,  have  induced  an 
inherent  weakness,  which  depresses  the  social  system 
and  retards  its  progress. 

If  the  reader  should  have  followed  me  in  the  argn- 
comrast  with  men*  by  which  these  conclusions  have 
Christianity.  been  reac]ied  the  COIltrast  with  the  Chris- 
tian faith  lias  no  doubt  been  suggesting  itself  at  each 
successive  step. 

Christianity,  as  Al  Kindy  has  so  forcibly  put  it, 
Christianity  gained  a  firm  footing  in  the  world  witli- 

not  propagated 

by  force.  out  the  sword,  and  without  any  aid  what- 

ever from  the  secular  arm.  So  far  from  having  the 
countenance  of  the  State  it  triumphed  in  spite  of 
opposition,  persecution,  and  discouragement.  "  My 
kingdom,"  said  Jesus,  "  is  not  of  this  world.  If  my 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  141 

kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants 
fight  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews ;  but 
now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence.  .  .  .  For  this 
end  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness 
to  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth,  heareth 
my  voice."  ' 

The  religion  itself,  in  its  early  days,  offered  no 
^worldly  attractions  or  indulgences.  It  was  Nor  b  worldly 
not,  like  Islam,  an  "  easy  way."  Whether  lnducements- 
in  withdrawal  from  social  observances  deeply  tainted 
with  idolatry,  the  refusal  to  participate  in  sacrificial 
ceremonies  insisted  on  by  the  rulers,  or  in  the  renun- 
ciation of  indulgences  inconsistent  with  a  saintly  life, 
the  Christian  profession  required  self-denial  at  every 
step. 

But  otherwise  the  teaching  of  Christianity  nowhere 
interfered  with  the  civil  institutions  of  the    . 

Adaptive  prin- 

countries  into  which  it  penetrated  or  with  tifTacuHy^of 
any  social  customs  or  practices  that  were  Chn8tlanlty- 
not  in  themselves  immoral  or  idolatrous.  It  did  not, 
indeed,  neglect  to  guide  the  Christian  life.  But  it 
did  so  by  the  enunciation  of  principles  and  rules  of 
wide  and  far-reaching  application.  These,  no  less 
than  the  injunctions  of  the  Koran,  served  amply  for 
1  John  xviii,  36,  37. 


142  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

the  exigencies  of  the  day.  But  they  have  done  a  vast 
deal  more.  They  have  proved  themselves  capable  of 
adaptation  to  the  most  advanced  stages  of  social  de- 
velopment and  intellectual  elevation.  And,  what  is 
infinitely  more,  it  may  be  claimed  for  the  lessons  em- 
bodied in  the  Gospel  that  they  have  been  themselves 
promotive,  if  indeed  they  have  not  been  the  imme- 
diate cause,  of  all  the  most  important  reforms  and 
philanthropies  that  now  prevail  in  Christendom.  The 
principles  thus  laid  down  contained  germs  endowed 
with  the  power  of  life  and  growth  which,  expanding 
and  flourishing,  slowly  it  may  be,  but  surely,  have  at 
the  last  borne  the  fruits  we  see. 

Take,  for  example,  the  institution  of  slavery.  It 
Examples  •  sia-  Preva^ed  m  the  Roman  Empire  at  the 
introduction  of  Christianity,  as  it  did  in 
Arabia  at  the  rise  of  Islam.  In  the  Moslem  code,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  practice  has  been  perpetuated. 
Slavery  must  be  held  permissible  so  long  as  the 
Koran  is  taken  to  be  the  rule  of  faith.  The  divine 
sanction  thus  impressed  upon  the  institution,  and  the 
closeness  with  which  by  law  and  custom  it  intermin- 
gles with  social  and  domestic  life,  make  it  impossible 
for  any  Mohammedan  people  to  impugn  slavery  as 
contrary  to  sound  morality  or  for  any  body  of  loyal 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  143 

believers  to  advocate  its  abolition  upon  the  ground 
of  principle.  There  are,  moreover,  so  many  privi- 
leges and  gratifications  accruing  to  the  higher  classes 
from  its  maintenance  that  (excepting  under  the  strong 
pressure  of  European  diplomacy)  no  sincere  and  hearty 
effort  can  be  expected  from  the  Moslem  race  in  the 
suppression  of  the  inhuman  traffic,  the  horrors  of 
which,  as  pursued  by  Moslem  slave-traders,  their 
Prophet  would  have  been  the  first  to  denounce. 
Look  now  at  the  wisdom  with  which  the  Gospel 
treats  the  institution.  It  is  nowhere  in  so  many 
words  proscribed,  for  that  would,  under  the  circum- 
stances, have  led  to  the  abnegation  of  relative  duties 
and  the  disruption  of  society.  It  is  accepted  as  a 
prevailing  institution  recognized  by  the  civil  powers. 
However  desirable  freedom  might  be,  slavery  was  not 
inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profession :  "  Art 
thou  called  being  a  servant  ?  care  not  for 

1  Cor.  vii,  21. 

it :  but  it  thou  mayest  be  made  free,  use  it 
rather."  The  duty  of  obedience  to  his  master  is  en- 
joined upon  the  slave,  and  the  duty  of  mildness  and 
urbanity  toward  his  slave  is  enjoined  upon  the  master. 
But  with  all  this  was  laid  the  seed  which  grew  into 
emancipation.  "  Our  Father"  gave  the  key-note  of 

freedom.     "  Ye  are  all  the  cliildren  of  God  by  faith 
10 


144  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

in  Christ  Jesus."  "  There  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 
Gai.  in,  26, 28.  ...  f or  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." 
icor.vii.22.  «He  that  is  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a 
servant,  is  the  Lord's  freeman."  The  converted  slave 
is  to  be  received  "  not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above 
a  servant,  a  brother  beloved."  The  seed 

Philemon  16. 

has  borne  its  proper  harvest.  Late  in 
time,  no  doubt,  but  by  a  sure  and  certain  devel- 
opment, the  grand  truth  of  the  equality  of  the 
human  race,  and  the  right  of  every  man  and  woman 
to  freedom  of  thought  and  (within  reasonable  limit 
of  law)  to  freedom  of  action,  has  triumphed ;  and 
it  has  triumphed  through  the  Spirit  and  the  pre- 
cepts inculcated  by  the  Gospel  eighteen  hundred 
years  ago.  Nor  is  it  otherwise  with  the  relations  es- 
Reiations  be-  tablished  between  the  sexes.  Polygamy, 

tween    the     ,  J°      .*' 

sexes.  divorce,  and  concubinage  with  bondmaids 

have  been  perpetuated,  as  we  have  seen,  by  Islam  for 
all  time ;  and  the   ordinances   connected    therewith 
have  given  rise,  in  the  laborious  task  of  defining  the 
conditions  and  limits  of  what  is  lawful,  to  a  mass  of 
prurient  casuistry  defiling  the  books  of  Mohammedan 
law.      Contrast   with   this   our   Saviour's 
words,  "He  which  made  them  at  the  "begin- 
ning made  them  male  and  female.  .  .  .  What  there- 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  145 

fore  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put  asunder" 
From  which  simple  utterance  have  resulted  monogamy 
and  (in  the  absence  of  adultery)  the  indissolubility  of 
the  marriage  bond.  While  in  respect  of  conjugal 
duties  we  have  such  large,  but  sufficiently 

,    J         1  Cor.  711,8. 

intelligible,  commands  as  "  to  render  due 
benevolence,"  whereby,  while  the  obligations  of  the 
marriage  state  are  maintained,  Christianity  is  saved 
from  the  impurities  which,  in  expounding  the  ordi- 
nances of  Mohammed,  surround  the  sexual  ethics  of 
Islam,  and  cast  so  foul  a  stain  upon  its  literature. 

Take,  again,  the  place  of  woman  in  the  world.    We 
need    no  injunction  of    the   veil  or  the     Elevation  of 
harem.     As    the    temples    of    the    Holy     woman' 
Ghost,  the  body  is  to  be   kept  undefiled,  and  every 
one  is  "to  possess  his  vessel  in  sanctifica-     iTUess.iv,  4. 
tion  and  honor."     Men  are  to  treat  "the     iTim.v.s. 
elder  women  as  mothers ;  the  younger  as  sisters,  with 
all  purity."    Women  are  to  "  adorn  them- 

1  Tim.  11,  9. 

selves  in  modest  apparel,  with  shame- 
facedness  and  sobriety."  These,  and  such  like  max- 
ims embrace  the  whole  moral  fitness  of  the  sev- 
eral relations  and  duties  which  they  define.  They 
are  adapted  for  all  ages  of  time  and  for  all  con- 
ditions of  men.  They  are  capable  of  being  taken 


146  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

by  every  individual  for  personal  guidance,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  sense  of  propriety,  and  they  can  be 
accommodated  by  society  at  large  with  a  due  ref- 
erence to  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  day.  The 
attempt  of  Mohammed  to  lay  down,  with  circumstan- 
tial minuteness,  the  position  of  the  female  sex,  the 
veiling  of  her  person,  and  her  withdrawal  from  the 
gaze  of  man,  has  resulted  in  seclusion  and  degrada- 
tion ;  while  .the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and  injunctions 
like  that  of  "giving  honor  to  the  wife 

1  Pet.  Hi,  7. 

as  to  the  weaker  vessel,"  have  borne  the 
fruit  of  woman's  elevation,  and  have  raised  her  to 
the  position  of  influence,  honor,  and  equality  which 
(notwithstanding  the  marital  superiority  of  the  hus- 
band in  the  ideal  of  a  Christian  family)  she  now 
occupies  in  the  social  scale. 

In  the  type  of  Mussulman  government  which  (though 
Relations  with  no*  la^  down  i"  the  Koran)  is  founded 

upon  the  spirit  of  the  faith  and  the  pre- 
cedent of  the  Prophet  the  civil  is  indissolubly 
blended  with  the  spiritual  authority,  to  the  detriment 
of  religious  liberty  and  political  progress.  The 
Ameer ,  or  commander  of  the  faithful,  should,  as  in 
the  early  times,  so  also  in  all  ages,  be  the  Imam,  or 
religious  chief  ;  and  as  such  he  should  preside  at  the 


THE  DECADENCE  OF  ISLAM.  147 

weekly  cathedral  service.  It  is  not  a  case  of  .the 
Church  being  subject  to  the  State,  or  the  State  being 
subject  to  the  Church.  Here  (as  we  used  to  see  in 
the  papal  domains)  the  Church  is  the  State,  and  the 
State  the  Church.  They  both  are  one.  And  in  this 
we  have  another  cause  of  the  backward-  Christianity 
ness  and  depression  of  Mohammedan  so-  ity  tree  to  ex- 
ciety.  Since  the  abolition  of  the  temporal 
power  in  Italy  we  have  nowhere  in  Christian  lands 
any  such  theocratic  union  of  Caesar  and  the  Church, 
so  that  secular  and  religious  advance  is  left  more  or 
less  unhampered  ;  whereas  in  Islam  the  •  hierarch- 
ico-political  constitution  has  hopelessly  welded  the 
secular  arm  with  the  spiritual  in  one  common  scepter, 
to  the  furthering  of  despotism,  and  elimination  of  the 
popular  voice  from  its  proper  place  in  the  concerns 
of  State. 

And  so,  throughout  the  whole  range  of  political,  re- 
ligious, social,  and  domestic  relations,  the  The  Koran 

checks     prog- 
attempt  made  by  the  founder  of  Islam  to  ress. 

provide  for  all  contingencies,  and  to  fix  every  thing 
aforehand  by  rigid  rule  and  scale,  has  availed  to  cramp 
and  benumb  the  free  activities  of  life  and  to  para- 
lyze the  natural  efforts  of  society  at  healthy  growth, 
expansion,  and  reform.  As  an  author  already  quoted 


148 

has  so  well  put  it,  "  The  Koran  has  frozen  Moham- 
medan thought  /  to  obey  it  is  to  abandon,  progress."  ' 
Writers   have  indeed    been   found  who,  dwelling 
is  isiam  suit-  upon  the  benefits  conferred  by  Islam  on 

able    for    any 

nation?  idolatrous  and  savage  nations,  have  gone 

so  far  as  to  hold  that  the  religion  of  Mohammed  may 
in  consequence  be  suited  to  certain  portions  of  man- 
kind— as  if  the  faith  of  Jesus  might  peaceably  divide 
with  it  the  world.  But  surely  to  acquiesce  in  a  sys- 
tem which  reduces  the  people  to  a  dead  level  of  social 
depression,  despotism,  and  semi-barbarism  would  be 
abhorrent  -from  the  first  principles  of  philanthropy. 
With  the  believer,  who  holds  the  Gospel  to  be  "  good 
tidings  of  great  ioy,  which  shall  le  to 

Luke  11, 10. 

all  people"  such  a  notion  is  on  higher 
grounds  untenable ;  but  even  in  view  of  purely  secu- 
lar considerations  it  is  not  only  untenable,  but  alto- 
gether unintelligible.  As  I  have  said  elsewhere : 

The  eclipse  in  the  East,  which  still  sheds  its  blight  on  the  ancient 
seats  of  Jerome  and  Chrysostom,  and  shrouds  in  darkness  the  once 
bright  and  famous  sees  of  Cyprian  and  Augustine,  has  been  disas- 
trous every-where  to  liberty  and  progress,  equally  as  it  has  been  to 
Christianity.  And  it  is  only  as  that  eclipse  shall  pass  away  and  the 
Sun  of  righteousness  again  shine  forth  that  we  can  look  to  liie  na- 
tions now  dominated  by  Islam  sharing  with  us  those  secondary  but 

1  Dr.  Fairbairn,  Contemporary  Review,  p.  865. 


CONCLUSION.  149 

precious  fruits  of  divine  teaching.  Then  with  the  higher  aud  eudur- 
iug  blessings  which  our  faith  bestows,  but  not  till  then,  we  may 
hope  that  there  will  follow  likewise  in  their  wake  freedom  and  prog- 
ress, and  all  that  tends  to  elevate  the  human  race.1 

Although  with  the  view  of  placing  the  argument 
on  independent  ground  I  have  refrained  NO  sacrifice  for 

sin  or  redemp- 

from  touching  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  tive  grace. 
Christianity,  and  the  inestimable  benefits  which  flow 
to  mankind  therefrom,  I  may  be  excused,  before  I 
conclude,  if  I  add  a  word  regarding  them.  The  fol- 
lowers of  Mohammed  have  no  knowledge  of  God 
as  a  Father /  still  less  have  they  knowledge  of  him 
as  "  Our  Father  " — the  God  and  Father  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  They  acknowledge,  indeed,  that  Jesus 
was  a  true  prophet  sent  of  God ;  but  they  deny  his 
crucifixion  and  death,  and  they  know  nothing  of  the 
power  of  his  resurrection.  To  those  who  have  found 
redemption  and  peace  in  these  the  grand  and  dis- 
tinctive truths  of  the  Christian  faith,  it  may  'be  al- 
lowed to  mourn  over  the  lands  in  which  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  has  been  quenched,  and  these  blessings 
blotted  out,  by  the  material  forces  of  Islam;  where, 
together  with  civilization  and  liberty,  Christianity 
has  given  place  to  gross  darkness,  and  it  is  as  if  now 

1  The  Early  Caliphate  and  Rise  of  Mam,  being  the  Rede  Lecture 
for  1881,  delivered  before  the  University  of  Cambridge,  p.  28. 


150  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

"  there  were  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins."  We  may, 
and  we  do,  look  forward  with  earnest  expectation  to 
the  day  when  knowledge  of  salvation  shall  be  given 
to  these  nations  "by  the  remission  of  their  sins, 
through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God,  whereby  the 
Dayspring  from  on  high  hath  visited  us, 

Luke  1,  77-79.  . 

to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness 
and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide  onr  feet  into 
the  way  of  peace." 

But  even  apart  from  these,  the  special  blessings  of 
contrast  be  Christianity,  I  ask,  which  now  of  the 
aTdDh  udmann  two  faiths  1)ears>  in  its  birth  and  growth, 

the  mark  of  a  divine  hand  and  which 
the  human  stamp  ?  Which  looks  likest  the  handiwork 

of  the  God  of  nature,  who  "  hath  laid  the 

measures  of  the  earth,"  and  "  hath  stretched 
the  line  upon  it,"  but  not  the  less  with  an  ever- vary- 
ing adaptation  to  time  and  place?  and  which  the 
artificial  imitation  ? 


"  As  a  reformer,  Mohammed  did  indeed  advance  his  people  to  a 
certain  point,  but  as  a  prophet  he  left  them  fixed  im- 
movably at  that  point  for  all  time  to  come.     As  there 
can  be  no  return,  so  neither  can  there  be  any  progress.     The  tree  is 
of  artificial  planting.     Instead  of  containing  within  itself  the  germ  of 
growth  and   adaptation  to  tlie  various   requirements  of  time,  and 
clime,  and  circumstance,  expanding  with  the  genial  sunshine  and  the 


CONCLUSION.  151 

rain  from  heaven,  it  remains  the  same  forced  and  stunted  thing  as 
when  first  planted  twelve  centuries  ago."  ' 

Such  is  Islam.     Now  what  is  Christian-  Christianity 

compared     by 

ity  ?  Listen  to  the  prophetic  words  of  the  cimst  to  the 

works  of   nat- 

Founder  himself,  who  compares  it  to  the  ure- 
works  of  nature : 

"  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the 
ground ; 

"  And  should  sleep,  and  rise  night  and  day,  and  the  Mark  Iv,  26-28. 
seed  should  spring  and  grow  up,  he  knoweth  not  how. 

"  For  the  earth  bringeth  forth  fruit  of  herself:  first  the  UadeY  then  the 
ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 

And  again : 

"  Whereunto  shall  we  liken  the  kingdom  of  God,  or  with  what  com- 
parison shall  we  compare  it  ? 

"  It  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  which,  when  it  is  Mark  Iv,  30-32. 
soivn  in  the  earth,  is  less  than  all  seeds  that  be  in  the  earth  ; 

"  But  when  it  is  sown,  it  groweth  up  and  becometh  greater  than  all 
herbs,  and  shooteth  out  great  branches,  so  that  the  fowls  of  the  air  may 
lodge  under  the  shadow  of  it." 

Which  is  nature,  and  which  is  art,  let  Iglam  the  work 
the  reader  judge.     Which  bears  the  im-  u^^tS 
press  of  man's  hand,  and  which  that  of  workofGod- 
Him  who  "  is  wonderful  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in 
working  ? " 

In  fine,  of  the  Arabian  it  may  be  said : 

"  Hitherto  shall  thou  come,  but  no  further,  and  here  shall  thy  proud 
waves  be  stayed." 

1  The  Koran,  otc.,  p.  65. 


152  THE  RISE  AND  DECLINE  OF  ISLAM. 

But  of  Christ : 

"  His  name  shall  endure  forever :  his  name  shall  be  continued  as 
long  as  the  sun :  and  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him :  all  nations  shall 

call  him  blessed. 
8  ^8  l1»X  '      '        "  ^e  s^a^  ^ave  d°minion  a^so  from  sea  to  sea,  and 

from  the  river  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

"  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  who  only  doeth  wondrous 
things.  And  blessed  be  his  glorious  name  forever :  and  let  the  whole  earth 
be  filled  with  his  glory.  Amen,  and  Amen." 


THE   END. 


